


Daddy'll help you heal, baby boy

by NobodyGivesAShit1969



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Age Play, Caning, Daryl Dixon is a Softie, Diapers, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Paddling, Protective Rick, Shane Being an Asshole, Spanking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-02-10 23:39:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12922680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NobodyGivesAShit1969/pseuds/NobodyGivesAShit1969
Summary: To get a promotion at work, Shane is asked by the Chief of the Police Department he works in, to take care of Merle Dixon's neglected and hurt little brother, who's already a grown up but can't take care of himself because no one has taught him to do anything but to stay in the house doing nothing and getting beat up by his alcoholic father.When Rick visits his friend's house and finds out about the adult/baby living there and the way he's treated by Walsh, Grimes wants to help him and starts being friendly with him. A couple of months later, things start working out the way they're supposed to.





	1. The First Visit

**Author's Note:**

> The first visit:   
> Trigger warning: caning and maltreatment.

Rick pulled over the entrance of Shane's house, then. hopping off of the car and walking towards the big and mostly-wooden place. The garden was big and the lawn was recently mowed, which was strange because Walsh wasn't very caring about the way the house looked; he only cared about fucking, eating and sleeping... And maybe the boy he was taking care of. Yes, Rick was invited to visit them so he was introduced to the little boy Shane was sheltering in his home. Glenn, Maggie, Michonne and Carol had already met him and they always talked sweetly about him.

   It was a very cold night, as Thanksgiving had just passed by and Christmas was getting closer and closer, so Rick almost ran to the house because of the freezing wind that threatened to turn him into a giant ice cube. He knocked on the door and waited the few minutes it took Shane to open the door, and then he was invited to come in. As he did, he heard the TV was on and it was obviously on some children channel, which he noticed because he heard the tiny voices of the characters.

   He had expected Shane to look more like an adult and less like an adolescent, but nothing seemed to have changed. Rick expected his friend to grow up a little more since he was taking care of a child, but as soon as he saw the goofy grin on his face, he knew that he wasn't going to change. Ever. 

"It's been what, four months? Man, I haven't seen you for a long time!" Shane complained, furrowing his brow and patting Rick's shoulder. Yeah... Rick knew that Shane remembered why they hadn't seen each other for that long. Well... Let's say that he had watched hell of a spectacle, starring Shane and Lori and taking place on their own bed. Of course they divorced and then Shane left Lori because that's what he always did: he always got sick of people and dumped them, or ruined their relationship. And it was a pity. 

  Silence.

  Rick knows that it should've taken him more time to forgive the other man. 

"I'm gonna tell Daryl to come here. He's watching TV all day, he's a bore" Shane told Rick, rolling his eyes and pointing his finger towards the living room, where the sound of the device was coming from. Rick nodded. "Boy, come here. Right now" Shane yelled, and Grimes immediately thought that it was unnecessary. Really? Yelling at a little boy? Then he knew that if he treated him like this when he had done nothing wrong, the punishments were kind of a hell. What a pity. 

  When the boy appeared, Rick could have spat all the water in his mouth if he'd had any. That wasn't what he had expected. At all. Daryl was a man, almost as tall as him and as thin as spaghetti! He had fair hair and hell of a pair of beautiful blue eyes. His clothes were just some jeans and a T-shirt, and his feet were bare. 

"Introduce yourself" Shane ordered, causing the boy to flinch and look down at the floor. 

  Daryl mumbled something, but none Shane and Rick could hear. They guessed he had said his name, but Shane snapped at him anyways.

"Do you think we can hear that?" Walsh was glaring at the boy, obviously making him nervous. Rick felt sorry for the blonde, taking for granted that he was not having a great time there in the house.

  "Sowy" Daryl spoke, his baby lisp causing Shane to giggle. Rick turned his head to the right, sending a glare to the man. "My name is Dawyl" The boy bit into his bottom lip as he pronounced the part where the 'r' should be. He obviously couldn't say it well. Rick smiled sweetly at him, nodding and staring at him with care. 

"Hi Daryl, nice to meet you. I'm Rick, Shane's friend" He smiled even wider, feeling moved by how sweet and tender the pup was. He dug into his pocket until he found a red lollipop, then holding it out for the boy to take it. Daryl looked at Shane, asking for permission, and the man nodded. 

  "Thank you, Wick" Daryl smiled shyly and took the candy, unwrapping it and bringing it into his mouth. He seemed happy now. 

"Yeah, he kinda has some oral fixation" Shane grinned, causing Rick to wrinkle his nose. 

  "Gross, man. How'd you know?" 

  "Not what'cha think, officer" Shane laughed. Daryl stared at them, obviously not knowing what they were talking about.

Rick couldn't stop staring at Daryl during the whole night, wondering how hard it had to be for him to live with a man like Shane. He was sure the boy had some problems and that it wasn't a kink or anything like that, and that made him feel bad for the little one. Shane had made fun about his lisp! Like Daryl could help it!  
  As they ate dessert, Daryl got his face very dirty, having ice cream all over his face. It was an adorable sight for Grimes, who smiled widely and offered to clean him up with a wet rag. As soon as he got close to Daryl, the pup started to cry and try to squirm away from him and Shane. 

  "One more scream and.." He couldn't finish talking, when Daryl accidentally dropped the small bowl with ice cream, causing it to fall onto the floor. 

  "Sowy, sowy... Accident", Daryl cried, knowing what was coming next. Shane scooped him up and then walked the boy to the living room. "P'ease... I'm sowy", He continued whining, and then some noises were heard by Rick, who had stayed at the dining room. 

  And then he heard the loud swat and the scream that escaped Daryl's mouth. Rick didn't even wanted to think about what was happening there, but he knew. Shane was caning the innocent pup, who was crying as loud as possible. Some minutes later, Walsh carried a sobbing Daryl back to the room Rick had stayed in. 

  "Sorry, but he has to learn how things are done in this house" Shane said, thinking that it was enough to excuse himself. Then, he sat the boy down onto his chair, causing him to whimper as his clothed butt touched the wooden surface.

  Daryl was staring down at his chubby hands as tears ran down his cheeks and tiny sobs and hiccups escaped his mouth. He knew that Rick was staring at him, curiosity burning on his skin, but he couldn't even turn his head and look at him. He was very embarrassed, having been laughed at and now caned for something that had accidentally happened. It wasn't fair, not at all! He was sure Rick was laughing at him, inside. But he got to like the man, seeing him smile and be nice. 

  "I think I should get going, if you don't mind" Rick spoke, standing up from the table. "I'm glad we met, Daryl. See you soon" He kissed the boy's forehead, feeling surprised as Daryl's skinny arms were snaking around his neck in a hug. "Aww, baby.. You're so sweet! I promise I'll bring you more treats next time I visit you" He petted his fair hair, smiling widely as he stared at him and hoped Shane to tell him that he could take the boy with him if he wanted to. He would be glad to have the pup at home. He'd do anything to help that sweet little boy get out of the house he shared with Shane. Yeah, Walsh could be his friend, but he wasn't a good man and he didn't deserve to even have the chance of having Daryl's love. 

  "Bye bye, Wick. See you soon!" The baby giggled, forgetting about the burning pain in his buttcheeks and focusing on Rick's comforting smile. He had liked Grimes a lot and hoped to see him as soon as possible !

  As he left the house and got into his car, Rick thought about how good he would feel if he was the one to take care of the little boy. Yes, he had his own children, but he knew that there was space for one more, that one who not only needed his help but also his love and care. Shane was too harsh and careless, to say the truth, and Rick was sure that the poor boy needed someone different than him, someone who could support him. He was that someone. And yes, he might have just known the child, but he didn't care at all. Rick could see pureness in the boy's blue eyes, and that's all he needed to know.

  It was a Friday night, so Rick knew he had to get up early to go pick his son and his daughter up from his ex wife. He tried to sleep, but he couldn't stop thinking and feeling guilty for not interrupting and keeping Shane from caning the boy. It was so cruel and heartless! He was sure that Daryl was a well-behaved child, or at least he tried really hard, so he thought that Shane was never going to know how to take care of him.  
  When Rick woke up, he was tired as hell and his mood wasn't exactly nice, but he got up anyways and went to Lori's house. When he got there, he saw Shane's car parked on the street. That caused him to roll his eyes with annoyance. It had happened before; Shane took Rick's kids somewhere else, the same day he was supposed to take them to his house.

Trying to ignore the thought of Shane being let by Lori to take his children away from him, Rick walked towards the house and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, he heard Lori yell 'go open up!', which he hoped wasn't directed to Carl or Judith, or they'd have to talk very seriously. Great was his surprise when he saw Daryl's face peeking out the side of the door, causing Rick to laugh at how funny the boy looked. As the pup saw him, he smiled widely, opened the door and hugged him. 

  "Hi, Daryl" He said, wanting to call him 'baby boy' and stopping himself from doing that. Maybe he'd scare the boy off, and that's not what he wanted, not at all. 

  "Hi Wick" Daryl giggled, happy to see him again, then pulling away.

  "How are you?" Rick asked, entering the house and sitting down on the living couch. Daryl sat down next to him, staring at him as if he was asking if it was okay to follow him everywhere. Rick smiled. 

"Boied" Rick giggled as he heard the boy's answer. "Why aie you heie?" He blushed and stared down at his hands while he spoke, thinking that his baby lisp was annoying. He couldn't pronounce the stupid 'r' and the stupid 'l', but he replaced them with an "i" or a "w"! He was the one annoyed by his lisp and by everyone who laughed at him. But Rick didn't laugh or seem annoyed not like Shane or Lori. 

"I came here to pick my children up and take them to my house" Rick said. "Did you see them? They're here" He looked around him, hoping to see his kids appear anytime soon. 

"Juwith and Caiw aie youi kids?" Daryl felt his eyes fill with tears as his lisp was more and more obvious. He hoped Rick didn't notice; maybe he didn't mind the lisp, but he did mind him being 'such a pussy' for crying. 

  Rick nodded, smiling widely. He was starting to love the boy, that was obvious. He wished he could help him out of Shane's house, but he knew that the other man's pride wouldn't let him take Daryl away from him, not even caring if he really wanted to take care of the boy or not.

  "Shane's piaying with them" Daryl pouted and sighed, causing Rick to feel sorry for him. Walsh had brought Daryl to Lori's house and wasn't even paying attention to him! How could that be possible? 

  "And why aren't you playing with them, little boy?" Rick asked curiously, very intrigued about the baby and his neglectful caregiver, now that he noticed how upset the boy was. 

"They didn't invite me" Daryl shrugged, still pouting. Rick hugged him, then helping him sit on his lap. He started tickling him, soon finding out that he was extremely ticklish, making him giggle and laugh. "Stop, stop!" The boy pleaded, trying to grab Rick's wrists with his clumsy hands. The man complied, not even thinking about it. 

  "What's up? Are you okay?" Grimes scanned Daryl, trying to see if he had caused him any bruise or if he was hurt because of something else. 

"I aimost peed myseif" Daryl blushed and looked away, trying not to be so obvious. He was afraid Rick would notice how embarrassed he was about his lack of control on his bladder.

  "Well, if that happens often, your Daddy will have to put you on some diapers. Or do you already wear them?" Rick said, smiling at the blushing baby and wanting to pinch his pink cheeks but keeping himself from doing it only because he was afraid he could scare him off with all those sudden overfamiliar actions. He was looking forward to having some more time to spend with Daryl, to know him better and get to have part of his sweet, little heart. 

  When Shane walked over to them, with Carl and Judith clung to him, both Rick and Daryl felt jealous. The fair-haired boy started whimpering, glaring at the other kids and hugging Rick tightly, cuddling into his strong arms. Rick stroked his back, sighing deeply as he thought of Shane and his lack of common sense. And he also felt bad for himself, for feeling jealous of a man like that being his children's favourite person in the world. He knew they didn't love Shane more than they loved him.

  "Boy, please don't hate my children. They're just having a little fun, that's all" Rick bit into his bottom lip, feeling Daryl sob against his now soaked up shirt. He didn't care about the clothes, not one bit. 

  "Shane's the only thing I have, Wick" Daryl whispered, also whimpering, causing Shane to turn his head to look at them. Walsh shook his head with disapproval, watching Daryl 'misbehave'. The boy will get what he deserves once they get home, he thought. 

  Rich wanted to tell Daryl that he would always be there for him, to support him whenever it was needed, but he didn't feel brave enough to say it. And it was a shame, because it would have made the boy feel better. 

≧﹏≦


	2. Before Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane continues being an asshole and maltreating Daryl, which causes him to be sad most of the time.   
>  Rick visits them and plays cars with Daryl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before Christmas: 
> 
> Trigger warning: Cruelty and punishments.

Daryl woke up with a strange feeling, not wanting to know what it was about. But he did know, because that was what always happened to him; he had wet the bed, like almost every morning, and he hoped that Shane wouldn't be moody today so he wasn't spanked, at least for the moment. But he knew for sure that Shane would obviously mind having to wash and change the bed sheets, which meant that he was going to get, at least, paddled. 

The little boy looked outside the window, watching the snow fall onto the already white garden and street. He wanted to go out and play with the snow, build snowmen and play with Shane, maybe opening his mouth and sticking his tongue out of it to try and catch some of the falling snowflakes. He wanted it so much! Then they'd have hot chocolate with marshmallows floating in the cup, and maybe some cuddling time on the couch while they watched TV.  

Bullshit. He knew that Shane would never let him do that, even if he did it by himself. Shane was bad, Daryl gad learned that, and it broke his heart because he couldn't understand why no one really wanted to take care of him. His parents always made him feel that he was a mistake and that he shouldn't have been born, and that's why they never taught him anything, leaving him to be an eternal baby, someone who would get punished for only trying to do something. At first, he had thought that all the parents did the same thing and that it was normal for their children, but then he saw how Rick treated Carl and Judith, and he felt jealous. Why couldn't he have someone to take care of him, someone to even care? He had never been given the chance to have love in his life, not even for once. Everyone was loved but him, everyone had been wanted but him, everyone could speak well but him, everyone had toys and fun but him. Maybe he was the problem, not Shane or his parents. 

 When Daryl heard the door open, he quickly his under his bed sheets and started trembling. Shane walked slowly towards him and uncovered his small body, causing him to yelp in fear. 

"Daryl..." Shane pressed his lips together, staring at the wet bed. The boy swallowed hard. 

"I sowy, Shane... Was s'eeping and..." He started explaining himself, his eyes filling with tears. "P'ease, don't be mad" Daryl whined. 

"No, boy.. You have taken this too far. How many times did I tell you not to pee on your bed?" Shane asked Daryl, who stayed in silence, not knowing what to answer. "You don't know, right? Too many of them to count. Okay, I won't spank you for this, but I'll tell Santa not to bring you any Christmas presents" 

Without waiting any second, Daryl started wailing and pleading, yelling that he was going to be a good boy from then on and that Shane had told him days before that he would have a Christmas present for the first time in his whole life. 

"B-but you said..." Daryl started, not even being able to finish the sentence when another painful wail escaped his mouth. 

"I don't care. Santa will give everyone their presents, but he'll skip you, you'll see." After saying that, Shane left the room, leaving a whiny and desperate Daryl. 

Suddenly, all that excitement the boy had been building up since he heard that Shane's family was celebrating Christmas became a painful, permanent sting in his chest as he thought that he had ruined everything. Why couldn't he be normal and control his bladder just like everyone else did? What the hell was wrong with him? 

A couple of hours later, Shane and Daryl went to the supermarket to start buying everything related to food before everyone else in town went crazy about the celebration, which would cause a war in every place that sold anything.   
  Daryl couldn't help looking at his surroundings in awe, seeing lots of candies and toys everywhere. He felt so excited he'd scream and run towards anything he liked, but then he remembered that whatever he picked would be bought to someone else. Despite feeling terribly sad, he did his best not to cry, attempting to release his feelings when he got to the house, so if Shane laughed at him, no one else would be around to laugh too. 

"What should I buy for Carl and  Judith?" Shane said, not talking to anyone specifically. Daryl looked at him and shrugged, still staring at the bags of colorful candy. He didn't care about those kids, even if they were Rick's children. They had all the attention in the world, leaving him without anyone to even look at him. 

"I'm hungwy" Daryl said, feeling how his empty stomach was starting to ache. 

"I'm not gonna buy you anything, so you wait 'til we get home" Walsh spat, not even looking at the boy standing right beside him. Daryl let out a tiny whine and looked down at his feet, ignoring everything the other man was saying. 

After picking what he thought they'd need to cook everything for the Christmas party, Shane pushed the cart towards the cash register and made Daryl hurry up as he saw him staring at the action figure of some superhero. He just wanted to pay and leave, going home to just sit on the couch, drink beer and enjoy an awesome, cold afternoon without anything else to do than enjoying the silence in the house. But no... He had to take care of some stupid boy the police station made him look after, just because they didn't know in whose hands he should be left, after the pup's brother got arrested for trafficking drugs. Yes, Shane had been offered a promotion if he took care of the boy until the government decided what to do with him since he was a twenty-five year old adult who wasn't taught to do anything, adding that to some other problems he had. 

 As they got to the house, Daryl ran towards the kitchen to see if there was anything he could eat. Shane sighed deeply and followed him, knowing that the boy would get fussy if he didn't cook dinner soon, so he started preparing some mashed potatoes with chicken breasts.   
  While Shane was cooking, Daryl sat at the table and started playing with a pile of magazines, which he found extremely weird as he saw the young, naked women star everything shown in the paper pages. He giggled when he saw the logo of a bunny, thinking it was cute and staring at it until he heard Shane's footsteps approach the big, wooden table. 

"That's for men, Daryl" Walsh grabbed most of the magazines and put them on the farthest place he found in the room. 

 "The bunny's cute" The boy said, still giggling and causing Shane to nod, thinking of all those girls who barely wore underwear. He started to feel drool come out of his mouth as it was almost hanging open at the thought of what could happen if he ever found himself being surrounded by lots of Playboy girls. Daryl giggled. 

  "Let's eat" Shane places Daryl's plastic plate on the table and then sits down to eat from his own plate. As he saw the boy launching himself towards the small mountain of mashed potatoes and starting to eat the yellow pile of soft and salty food, he grinned and tried to think about how much his life had changed since the Chief told him that he'd be rewarded if he took care of the pup. Now he didn't feel as free as he felt before, when his house and his life were only his and when he had no one to look after but himself. He wanted that to come back, but that damn man in front of him wasn't letting that be possible. He glared at the boy. There would be like ten or twelve more Saturdays he wouldn't be bringing no 'slutty-party-girls' into the house. Damn! 

"It's yummy, Daddy" Daryl smiled, now eating the chicken and enjoying the way it tasted. When he realized what he had just called the man, his eyes darted towards Shane's face, which had his jaw as tense as possible. "Sowy" The boy lowered his head and continued eating until there was nothing left on the plate. 

Daryl wanted to ask Shane if they could play with cars or maybe with some weird dolls he found, but Walsh's permanent glare, which burned on his delicate skin, didn't let him even dare to think about it twice. He was so afraid of the other man! 

"Go to sleep, it's late" The dark-haired man asked harshly, pointing his index finger towards the short, narrow hallway that lead to the guest's bedroom, where Daryl slept. Without arguing or even hesitating, the baby stood up and walked to the small, white and silent room. 

He wasn't sleepy, not at all. It was barely 9pm, and it felt early for him. But he had to lay down and close his eyes as soon as he could, before Shane entered the room to check if he did as he was told or not, so he stripped down, put on his sweatpants and his white T-shirt and laid down onto the mattress. As he was trying hard to doze off, his eyes closed shut and his breath as even as he could maintain it, he couldn't stop thinking about those small, bright-coloured cars. He wanted to play with them, to pretend they were running the most important race of their lives... But he couldn't do it because Shane had sent him to sleep and he knew that even if it was midday and they had nothing else to do, the other man wouldn't let him touch his cars. 

 

The next day, as soon as he woke up, Daryl checked on the bedsheets to see if he had peed on them or not. Luckily for him, he hadn't. He smiled widely, wanting to jump and touch the sky as he couldn't feel any happier. Maybe Santa would bring him at least one present, his first Christmas present, his first present ever. 

"Shane, m'awake and hungwy!" He called the other man, who was snoring loudly in the other room. As he heard no reply, he got up and walked out of the bedroom, going to the kitchen to try and find something to eat. When he realized that there was nothing for him to eat as breakfast, he whimpered and sat down on a chair that was next to the table, waiting for Shane to wake up and go there to make something to eat. 

Being such a curious child, Daryl didn't wait long until he decided to walk around the house and see if there was something funny for him to do.  
When he went to the bathroom to pee, after doing what he had to do, he opened one of the drawers of a small cabinet, he found a strange bar of chocolate. As he couldn't read what it was exactly, he opened it and took a bite just to see if it was tasty or not, because its appearance wasn't what you'd expect from any other chocolate. As soon as he started chewing it, he noticed that it tasted kinda strange, but he didn't mind it much and ate a whole small, square-shaped piece, until his stomach started feeling funny and his bowels began grumbling. He quickly stripped down and sat down onto the toilet, soon feeling the release his body urged to do. He had just eaten laxatives!   
The poor boy started crying as his tummy continued feeling funny and every part of his body felt sore, and soon he heard Shane's heavy footsteps approaching the small room. As the man knocked on the door, Daryl cried louder and his soreness did nothing but increase in each wail he let out of his mouth. Shane entered the bathroom and saw Daryl holding the laxatives, chocolate bar and soon understood what had happened. He was very angry now. 

"Why the hell did you eat that?! Don't you know that those cost a fortune?!" Walsh yelled, scaring the boy even more. 

"I didn' know what' those aie. I's hungwy an' I found it" Daryl continued crying, this time a little less. Shane glared at him. 

"Didn't you read the prospect? It says 'laxatives'!" The older man continued yelling at the little boy, who cried and wailed as his body wasn't feeling any better despite he had stopped releasing the food and everything he had eaten before. 

"I-.. I can't wead" Daryl almost apologized for his lack of literacy, whining as Shane rolled his eyes at him. 

Suddenly, Walsh slapped him in the face and left the room. Daryl's eyes filled with tears as the skin of his cheek started to sting, but he didn't make a sound. He felt humiliated, hated, hurt and dead. Frowning, he clawed at his left arm, digging his nails into his soft skin. It felt good to be the one to choose what kind of pain he wanted to feel, this time not being caned or paddled by the other man, the man he hated with all his heart. 

 

When Shane heard a knock on the main door, he went to open it up, seeing Rick standing right in front of him, smiling widely and showing most of his perfect teeth. As soon as he let him in, the curly-haired man asked for Daryl, obviously eager to see him. Shane grimaced. 

"He's in the bathroom, 's been there since this morning" Walsh spoke, causing Rick to turn his head and look at the clock on the wall, seeing it was 1pm. He ran towards the room he was told the boy was in, knocking on the door. 

"Little boy, it's me, Rick. Can I come in?" He didn't even hesitate to ask, and smiled when he heard a whispered 'yes'. As he entered the room and saw the state Daryl was in, his jaw tensed up and his hand ran across his face. "What happened to you?" He asked, worried sick about the pouting boy sat on the toilet, naked from hips to toes and holding his belly as his face showed that he wasn't feeling well at all. 

"Ate a bai of somet'ing and it made me sick, Wick. Heip me" Daryl made grabby hands at Rick and pouted even more, his puppy eyes shimmering with embarrassment and need. 

"Okay, okay..." Grimes seemed to think about a solution for the problem, until his face lit up and his smile appeared. "I need you get up, little man." He said sweetly, and as soon as the boy complied, he scooped him up and made him lay on the floor. Before sitting down right in front of him, Rick opened the cabinet and grabbed some cotton wool and then soaked it with a little bit of water. 

Daryl squirmed as he felt the soft material cleaning him up, caressing his private parts as he was being taken care of. Rick was sweet, patient and caring, and that made Daryl want him to be his Daddy and help him get away from Shane's horrible place. 

"It's done, baby. Let's go make you some lunch" Rick helped Daryl dress up again and scooped him up. 

"Thank you, Da--" Daryl froze when he realized what he was about to say. Rick looked at him and smiled. 

"You can say it, sweetheart. I don't mind"


	3. Daddy's here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Shane realizes how much Daryl and Rick like each other, he decides to let the older man take care of the pup meanwhile he goes to a party and sleeps with some women. 
> 
> Rick buys Daryl some diapers and also helps him understand what having a Daddy feels like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daddy's here':  
> Get ready to see Daryl being sooooo adorable it hurts!  
> Trigger warning: Description of unfair punishment.

It was a cold Friday night, and Shane was incredibly eager to get out of that damn house and drive to that awesome party some young women were throwing because that week was their first one in that neighborhood, where they had just moved to. But Rick hadn't gotten to the house yet, which made both him and Daryl impatient. The boy was so happy to be taken care of at least for that night, that he didn't even worry about Shane and where he planned to go. Yes, the pup felt the excitement and eagerness aura that came from the older man, but he didn't care at all, even if he was an incredibly curious person. 

"You better behave, boy. I don't wanna have Rick callin' me to come back 'cause of you and your bullshit" Shane barked, glaring at the little boy in front of him. As he saw his blue eyes shine with something he couldn't figure out, he knew that he'd be getting rid of the little burden really soon. 

Daryl couldn't stop thinking about Rick and how much they'd play as soon as the man entered the house. He'd really enjoy being with him, and that was the only thing he had been sure about in his whole life! Rick would take care of him, he knew that.  
Shane finished dressing up, wearing a T-shirt that let his muscley arms be pretty visible and some dark, baggy jeans he found in his closet. He also wore an expensive perfume and a pair of black, shiney shoes. He looked incredibly well.

Daryl was drawing with a couple of pencils and crayons he found in a drawer, enjoying coloring random figures he had drawn with a ruler and a red pencil. He giggled when he realized that if all those figures were put together, they could form the shape of a rabbit.  
The little boy was so concentrated on the picture he was finishing painting, that he didn't hear the knocks on the door nor Rick's voice. That's why he screamed when a pair of hands started tickling his sides. 

"Wick! You'ie heie!" Daryl said as soon as he realized that his favourite person in the world had gotten to the house. He was so happy now!

"Yes, my little prince! I'm here to play with you and to tickle your baby belly" Grimes scooped Daryl up and, as he saw his smiling face, he tweaked his nose and pretended to extract it from the boy's face. "Here" Rick said, closing his hand as if it was keeping something invisible there. "I've got your nose" He almost sang. 

"No, no, Wick! Gimme ma nose!" Daryl laughed/whimpered, trying to catch Rick's hand s that the man could put his nose back into its place, where it obviously, actually was. 

"Okay, you win, my little pup." Rick said, pretending to help Daryl have his nose back. As he did so, the boy took a deep breath in, smiling. 

"Thanks! Can bweathe now!" He continued breathing deeply. 

Shane stared at them, not understanding that kind of love, not at all. He could see how much Rick care about the little boy, and he grimaced as he knew that he obviously couldn't love anyone like that. He was a loveless person, someone completely unreliable when it's about any type of romantic or even familiar relationships.

"Bye" Walsh spoke, walking away from them and leaving them be. He was eager to get to that awesome party. 

 

A couple of hours later, while they were playing with the cars, Daryl got up from his seat on the floor and ran to the bathroom, hissing as he knew that he wouldn't be able to get there before peeing himself at least just a little bit. Using that to introduce Daryl to the helper he had just bought for him, Rick stood up, took the package from his bag and walked towards the bathroom, knocking on the door. After the second knock, he heard muffled sniffles and sobs, which caused him to open the door immediately.  
When he saw Daryl crying, sat on the floor, surrounded by a small, yellow puddle, his first reaction was to kneel in front of him and pet his bright, golden hair. 

"It's okay, baby boy. Accidents happen" Rick tried to help him calm down, caressing his cheek and smiling at the boy's beautiful face. 

"I know.. I's an accident" The pup nodded, causing Rick's heart to shatter in a million pieces. "My momma said" He continued crying and whimpering. Grimes sighed deeply and helped Daryl to lay down onto the floor, then opening the package and pulling out one of the diapers. "No, Wick.. P'ease don't" The boy pleaded, seeing what the older man had in his hand. 

"Why not? You need these so that you don't wet your pants and bed anymore" Grimes was very patient and caring, already knowing how to take care of children. 

Rick stood up and grabbed some cotton wool, soaked it with water and also grabbed some powder. Then, he knelt down in front of Daryl, once again, and started taking his wet pants off. Daryl squirmed a little, not sure if he wanted Rick to take care of his little problem or not, and when he decided that it was not convenient for him, he started crying. 

"Daddy, no.." He didn't even mind what he had just said, knowing that Rick wouldn't mind either. 

"Baby, please let me--" 

"No! If ya do that, Shane wiiw know that I stiw pee myseif" Daryl whined and Rick sighed deeply. He knew that maybe his friend would cane the boy if he did something wrong, and that broke his heart even more. 

"And what happens if he knows, baby boy? Does he punish you?" Rick's worry didn't do anything but increase, now that he was entirely sure that the little boy always had trouble with his caregiver and the way the man treated him. As he saw Daryl nodding, his heart dropped. "What does he do to punish you, pretty pup?" He asked sweetly, unbuckling Daryl's belt and pulling down the zipper of his jeans. 

"The 'ast time I peed myseif, ma bed, he said that Santa won't gimme pwesents" The fair-haired boy's eyes filled with tears once he finished talking, his chubby, little hands clinging to Rick's blue shirt as he felt the other man's strong, slightly calloused hands hold him still as he pulled his pants down and lifted his bottom to put the diaper right under his little butt cheeks. 

"I promise you that I'll tell Santa that you're an awesome boy and he'll bring you lots of presents, okay? I won't let you feel sad about that" As Rick spoke, Daryl relaxed more and more and soon he didn't even try to hide his eagerness to be able to wear the diapers. When he felt Rick finishing cleaning him up, he giggled as the man's left hand travelled from his thigh to his side and started tickling him, obviously trying to ease the tension that had gotten stuck between them before. 

"..Aaand, it's ready!" Rick said, tapping the sides of the diaper and pulling Daryl's pants back up. He took a few seconds to stare at the pup, who was giggling and wiggling happily now. "Does it feel okay? Are you comfy?" He smiled at the boy, who nodded his head while a big, bright smile spread on his face. 

"Feeis gweat, Daddy! Thanks" The boy looked at him with his big, blue and curious eyes, causing Rick to bite into his lip not to scream in happiness as he knew how much he was helping the little boy. 

"Should we go back to playing with the cars or should we put them away?" Rick asked, looking at his watch just to make sure he wasn't missing Daryl's dinner time. No, he had a few more hours before he had to start making dinner. 

"Put 'em 'way, Daddy. Haf'ta show you something" Daryl ran towards the kitchen, where he had kept the picture of the rabbit. Rick followed him, thinking of all the boredom the boy always went through as Shane never played with him. It was obvious, tattooed on Daryl's excited face as he showed interest even in the least curious or funny things. 

"What's that, pup?" Grimes asked, trying to figure out what the colorful picture was about. 

"It's a wabbit, Daddy. See?" Days said, so excited that he could've made even a blind person see it. Obviously, Rick saw it. It actually looked like a rabbit, yeah. 

"Of course, little man." Rick started petting Daryl's hair. "Did you know that I have a rabbit at home?" Daryl's eyes opened wide as he smiled and looked at Rick. "Wha's its name?" The boy spoke, feeling excited by the idea of seeing a living bunny. He loved them, but the only way he could ever see one was if Merle could hunt one and take it to their house for dinner. Rick smiled at him, loving to see the excitement shimmer in Daryl's beautiful, blue eyes. "I-- I don't know, I never gave her one. I'm not good at picking names, baby boy. Do you think you can help me name my white bunny?"

"Didn't you t'ink of 'Sugaw'?" Daryl laughed and shrugged, which Rick smiled at. 'How can this boy be this fucking adorable?', Rick thought. 

"'Sugar'? Well, it's a good name.. But if I call her Sugar, what do I call this little prince I've got here, right in front of me, huh?" Rick tickled Daryl's belly, watching him squirm at the feeling of his fingertips gently scratching his skin. Grimes stopped making him laugh and squirm some seconds later. 

Daryl shrugged once again. "I dunno. I wike it bettew when you caw me 'sweetie'" Rick smiled and nodded at him. He wondered if Carl and Judith would accept him at home, even if they just came a couple of days a week. Because he couldn't make Daryl stay at Shane's anymore, he couldn't know he's suffering and still walk away when time's up and he has to drive back home. 

"Okay sweetie, whatever you want" He winked at the pup. 

 

It was time for dinner, so Rick let Daryl play with some small cars and blocks and then he went to prepare the food. He searched through the whole kitchen, trying to find something to make that Daryl could like, something not too spicy or too tasteless. He smiled when he found some tomatoes, potatoes and rice. That was perfect!  
He was about to finish setting the table, when he heard a whimper coming from the living room. Without thinking about it, Rick ran towards the room and relaxed a little bit when he saw that the boy wasn't injured. 

"What happened, buddy?" Rick spoke, approaching Daryl. Once he was right beside him, he sat down next to him on the floor and placed a hand on his bony shoulder. "It's okay, it's okay.."

"It's not" Daryl shook his head, tears sliding down his reddened cheeks. Rick hugged him, holding his trembling body as close to him as he could. "Shane's gonna cane me fow this!" He pointed at one of the small cars on the floor. Rick had to pick it up and hold it really close to his face to know what had happened to it: its rear view mirror was broken. 

"Daryl--" 

"It was an acc'dent, I pwomise!" The little boy was crying again. Rick nodded and helped him sit down on his lap, facing him, and then he hugged the scared, little boy. 

"Don't worry, baby.. We'll tell Shane that I broke it when I was looking at it, okay? He'll have no reason to blame you and no harm will be done to you" Rick said. Daryl smiled sweetly at him, thanking the man for always looking after him. Before meeting Rick, no one had even wanted him close. But now, he was glad to say that every night, before going to sleep, he had someone to say goodnight to, actually meaning it. 

 

After dinner, which resulted better than Rick had imagined it would, Grimes told Daryl that he would give him a bath. The boy, terrified, shook his head and got up from his seat, trying to escape. Rick let out a snort and smiled, getting up to go and catch the little boy. Once he saw him, sat on the couch of the living room, the sheriff sat down next to him and sighed deeply. 

"Why don't you wanna take a bath?" He asked the pup, staring at him and wondering why this time Daryl was staring down, when he always could look him in the eye. 

After thinking about it for a couple of seconds, Daryl decided to trust Rick with his most painful secret. "A'cause I got scaws an' you gonna laugh. They'we awful" 

Rick felt his heart break when he heard what Daryl said, knowing that the boy needed and deserved to be taken care of. He felt impotent towards everything that had happened to the child and wished he could fix all the damage done by whoever that hurt him. But he couldn't, and that made him feel even worse. Feeling his eyes fill with tears, Rick hugged Daryl tightly against his chest and petted his hair. 

"Daryl, I would never, ever laugh at whatever that's causing you pain. I'm your Daddy and I want you to be fine. If you're hurt, then I can't be fine either, pup." Rick said and Daryl nodded, hugging the other man as well. 

"Thanks, Daddy." Daryl closed his eyes, leaning against Rick even more, falling asleep in a matter of seconds. 

 

"Daryl...?" As soon as Rick saw the boy's serene face, he knew that maybe that was the only moment the boy had gotten to feel safe, and that meant a lot to him. 

Rick held Daryl tightly into his arms until Shane got to the house. Even knowing that he had given the boy the best day of his whole life, he didn't want to leave. But he had to. 

≧﹏≦


	4. Daddy has to go home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Shane enters his house, where Rick was waiting for him despite his well-hidden desire for him to leave Daryl in peace, Daryl wakes up from his comforting sleep and begs for Rick not to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daddy has to go home:  
> Trigger warning: severe and unfair punishment, self harm and angst. 
> 
> Sorry if the chapters are too short, it's kinda difficult for me to write so many words for each one since I'm way too impatient and I'm still learning English c: 
> 
> Thank y'all for reading, leaving comments and kudos! It means a lot to me :D
> 
> I'm also sorry if there're mistakes regarding to the way I write. I promise to check better on my drafts before posting the chapters <3

Daryl opened his eyes as soon as he heard the main door opened and a pair of heavy feet entered the house. He knew who it was, he knew that Shane had to go back home anytime soon, but he hated the idea of himself being alone with the dark-haired man. He hated the idea of Rick having to leave him.

Rick had tensed up as well, knowing that the little boy would be neglected once again. He was angry about having to leave, even if he knew that he'd be able to see Daryl the next day, at the Christmas party the Walsh family would be throwing. But he was impatient, he wanted to enter his house with Daryl resting into his strong and loving arms, then placing him softly onto the couch and watch some cartoons together while they cuddled. That would be perfect for him— a daddy and his baby, what else could he want? He knew that his presence in Daryl's life would improve his well being and also would make him happy, and that's all he wanted. The o ly thing he needed to get up from his comfy bed and start living another day was having his three babies, Carl, Judith and Daryl. 

It broke Rick's heart having to wake Daryl up to say goodbye. He could have just left, but he knew that the boy would be upset if he woke up alone in his bed and not in Daddy's arms.  
Shane stared at them, not knowing what to say, yet acknowledging that his friend was the perfect person to take care of a little boy, not him. Even if that meant that he could have his life back and get rid of Daryl, he still wanted the promotion, which he was sure he wouldn't get if the Police Department knew that he wasn't taking care of 'little burden'. 

"Daryl, pup.." Rick whispered, gently rubbing the boy's belly through his T-shirt. 

Despite being a baby, Daryl's sleep was pretty light and that's why his eyes fluttered open in a matter of seconds. He whined a little bit, then yawning. His eyes, still barely open from his recent 'nap', lit up as soon as he realized that he was being held by Rick, his Daddy. He hugged him tightly and giggled, but then his joy disappeared as he saw Shane standing right next to them. He knew what it meant: Rick had to go. 

"Daddy, p'ease don't go!" The fair-haired boy whimpered, pouting as Rick started pulling away from him. "No, p'ease!" He started crying as he clung to the other man. 

Shane snorted. 

"Baby boy, I have to go. But please, don't cry" Rick kissed Daryl's forehead and used his thumb to wipe his tears away as they were sliding down the boy's pale cheeks. Daryl still cried. 

"Daryl Dixon, let him go right now!" Shane barked angrily, trying to lift the boy up from Rick's lap. The pup squirmed and thrashed Shane's rough hands. "UNLESS YOU WANT THE CANE, STOP RIGHT NOW!" Shane lifted Daryl up, roughly and almost having to Yank him off of Rick's loose grip, and then dropped him to the ground, where he held him still meanwhile Rick stood up and got ready to leave, actually not wanting to. 

"DADDY, DON'T GO!" Daryl was crying louder, screaming and kicking, trying to squirm away from Shane and go hide behind Rick. But he couldn't. "DON'T 'EAVE ME HEIE" He continued screaming. 

Rick knelt down in front of Daryl, who was still on the ground under Shane's shamelessly-rough grasp. Grimes cupped his cheeks and smiled at him warmly "Daryl, please behave properly. I don't want you to get caned or punished any other way, okay? Be good for Shane" 

"Daddy.." Daryl pouted, his eyes big and sad, shining with pain as he watched Rick stand up. "Don't 'eave me, Daddy.." 

"I'll never leave you. Ever. Do you understand, my pretty bo--?" 

"Rick, go home right now. Daryl doesn't deserve any more explanations. He'll get punished as he deserves. See you tomorrow" Shane stated, sick of being part of that pitiful scene. Daryl screamed and whined, trying to grasp at Rick's hand but failing and letting his hand drop to the cold floor he was being held on. 

"Behave, boy. Love you, see you tomorrow" Rick waved a sad goodbye and exited the house, knowing that as soon as he left Daryl would suffer an inhuman punishment. He entered the house and walked toward Shane. "Don't cane him, it's all my fault. If tomorrow I see he's been beaten up, I'll call the Chief, you got it?" Grimes told the other man, pointing at his face with his index finger. 

"Pff.. Got it" Shane snorted, rolling his eyes. He kept holding Daryl down until Rick left the house, which happened after the man blew a kiss to the kid. 

Once Daryl was finally left alome with his caregiver, Shane forced him to stand up, slapped him in the face and bent him over his knees. The boy cried out when he felt Shane's heavy hand land on his still-covered bottom. It hurt and stung a lot! 

Walsh pulled Daryl's pants down and let out snort when he saw the diaper that covered the pup's private parts. "What are you, a big baby?" He teased, taking off the only thing Daryl had on other than his T-shirt. Not giving him time to answer that rhetorical question, Shane smacked him once, firmly and causing it to sting badly on his skin. Daryl let out a pitiful wail. He spanked the boy's bottom until it was bright red and his own hand stung. 

"He told me not to cane you— I didn't" He shrugged. 

As soon as Daryl was sent to sleep, he buried his face into the pillow and sobbed hard into the soft fabric that muffled the sound. He felt like a piece of shit, like anyone or anything was too much for him, like he didn't deserve good things to happen. 

(Look at Rick— he came here, stayed for a while and left. He doesn't want me, I'm just replacing his children since he doesn't see them everyday as he wishes he did) That's what Daryl thought. Even his babyish mind could understand it. (And Shane... He hates me. I don't know what'd I do for him to want me dead this damn much, but he does and it hurts.) 

His mom always talked about God, but she was a drunken, smoking prostitute anyways. His father was an abusive person who only cared about drinking, shooting guns in the house and having a pair of tits to put his face among. His brother was a racist, careless meth head who didn't give a damn about him. Who could he be, having been raised by those people? He always ignored them as he learned that they weren't any good to him, and that's why he never learned anything. His mind blocked everything they said and did since the moment he was old enough to learn and listen carefully. He decided to be an innocent baby until someone showed him the right way. Daryl had found that someone, but then Rick left him alone with Shane and all he thought he had accomplished went right into the trash can. 

As he pulled away from the comfortable pillow, which was wet with his saliva and tears, he let little sobs escape his mouth as tears ran down his reddened face.  
His hand gripped his left arm, causing his nails to dig into his skin. He dug them deeper, wanting to feel the pain. It didn't draw blood, but it hurt and it felt enough. He was deciding when pain was enough not Shane and not Rick. HIM. 

It was 3am and Daryl was still tossing and turning, not finding a way to finally fall asleep. His mind was tired from all that squirming, crying and receiving smacks on his bottom, but his eyes didn't seem to want to close. He couldn't stop thinking about Rick and his face when he had to leave. The man seemed to be a little bit sad, but if he was, then why did he leave? Why didn't Rick take him to his house, where he'd be safe? Maybe he didn't like him that much. But he said that he loved him... What was that supposed to mean? 

Rick couldn't stop feeling guilty for leaving Daryl at Shane's house. They'd had an awesome night together, playing, talking and laughing, and then all that ended with screams, cries and a tight grasp he couldn't get his mind off of. Daryl had clung to him with all he had, and it took Shane to use all his strength to scoop Daryl up from him. It broke his heart to watch the boy kick and squirm, but he couldn't do anything about that because he wasn't Daryl's 'legal' caregiver. He HAD to talk to the Chief and fix this mess. He couldn't watch Daryl's eyes fill with fear ever again. It might take time, work and effort, but he'd do anything to help the little boy with everything he needed. Maybe Carl and Judith —mostly Judith— would be jealous to have to share him with the fair-haired boy, but they'd have to get used to their 'brother'. Their brother... That sounded so close and yet so far... 

Rick thought of the Christmas presents. He had bought his three children —yes, now he counted Daryl as one of his own— five presents each, which was good enough for them. But he knew that Carl and Judith were obviously going to receive presents from Shane and his family, and also Rick's own family, but Daryl didn't have any more family than him, which meant that he wouldn't have lots of presents. He sighed deeply, knowing that the boy wouldn't even care about how many decorated boxes had his name written on, but Rick DID care and thought that it was unfair. It would probably be Daryl's first Christmas celebration and he would spend it with strangers, his neglectful and violent caregiver, and a lot of competitive children. Poor Daryl! 

Rick wanted to compensate all the boy had to suffer, which led him to have a great idea. He could take Daryl to his house to sleep over! That would, at least, satisfy him for a couple of days, right? It had to do. He started thinking about everything they could do together, Carl, Judith, Daryl and him. It would be great for all of them to start getting used to each other, since they would be incorporating a new member to the family very soon. Yeah, it HAD to do. 

Rick decided that Daryl would need A LOT of attention, because he is just a baby, which made him think that he needed some vacations. He wouldn't take his three-weeks bonus from work, not yet, but he could plan a vacation trip to somewhere nice to take Daryl on his first holidays. 

Yeah... He had a lot of things to plan, but he was sure that everything would work out fine. It HAD to. 

≧﹏≦


	5. You're my Christmas present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally Christmas and Daryl is desperate to see Rick, even though he's quite mad at him for leaving him alone with Shane.  
> When Rick sees the marks on Daryl's face and bottom, he decides that it's time to do something to help him, and his idea of taking the boy home with him is the best option. What will happen next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're my Christmas present:  
> Trigger warning: Daryl and Rick are too cute for this world! <3 
> 
> This chapter is for my friend, Robinson! Sorry for taking too long yesterday, boy! 
> 
> I'm sorry for the lack of spaces in between paragraphs, but I'm still figuring this **** out hahaha. If you could tell me how to get rid of that, I'd be thankful.

Daryl's eyes opened as soon as sun rose and his bedroom got lit up by the brightness coming from outside the windows. It was a very cold day and his thin body felt it despite the weight and warmth of the couple of blankets that covered him, and the air was fresh yet quite stuck inside of the room. It felt weird, like there was something missing but he couldn't figure it out then, when his eyes were small with sleepiness and his limbs remained under the bedsheets. The boy felt hunger take place in his empty stomach and thirst dry his whole mouth and throat as his lips parted. He was cold, thirsty and hungry... And alone. 

Feeling ignored, after a night of overwhelming love and care, was like flying and falling suddenly, like dreaming wonderful rainbows and waking up to heartbreaking grey skies. He had been loved, had been taken care of, but the man he loved as his Daddy, his caregiver, had to leave him with someone who didn't love anyone but himself. And it broke his heart, made it shatter in a million of small and pitiful pieces, because love isn't something that can be given to someone and then taken away all of a sudden, just like ripping off a band-aid. 

Daryl's eyes lit up as he remembered what day it was. IT WAS CHRISTMAS, IT WAS FINALLY HERE! He couldn't be more excited, really. He knew that Shane probably would punish him for things that were other people's fault, like it always happened, and that no one would focus on him and his needs as a baby. But Rick would be there to make it all better, as if he was the hero of the story. And he was.

Hours passed by as Daryl waited for Shane to wake up and get breakfast ready. The boy was bored, looking through the window, sat on his bed and sucking his thumb as he watched neighbors walk by. It was nearly midday and he hadn't done anything yet but waiting to eat something and get his empty stomach some meals. He felt sad because all the other houses in the neighborhood had decorations all over the place, even on the roof, and Shane's house looked as empty and unhappy as possible. Why couldn't they put up a tree at least? They could have, even if they were spending the night at Walsh's parents' house. It wasn't about how good it looked but the good intention about making each other happy! But Shane had told him that Santa wouldn't come to give him presents because bed-wetting babies can't have nice things. 

It was 12pm when Daryl heard footsteps approaching his bedroom, which scared him but also made him happy because the day had finally started and now he would be able to get something to eat! 

 

It was 4pm and Shane was finishing dressing up while Daryl colored with some crayons on a sheet of paper. He was making something for Rick, to show him that he liked him. He drew him and Rick in a park full of trees and flowers, and a big, red heart in the sky. He also wanted to write something, but he didn't know how and asking Shame would get him teasing and a lot of embarrassment. 

"Go get ready, right now!" Shane told Daryl, grabbing him by his arm and taking him to his bedroom. The boy whined and squirmed until the man let go of him. 

He couldn't get dressed on his own, not knowing how to put a diaper on. He knew that Shane didn't want him to, but he had to prevent wetting himself. Maybe he wet his bed, but he wasn't making a mess of himself in front of strangers. He wanted someone to help him, he wanted Rick!  
Daryl struggled a lot and finally gave up, only getting to wear boxers and then putting on a some blue jeans and a green T-shirt. He looked so childish, even when he was quite tall and his clothes would even fit Shane (in fact, those were his), but the innocent look on his face made him look a lot younger.

When they got to the house, Shane's mother opened the door. She seemed young to be a thirty-five year old adult, and surprisingly didn't look like Shane at all. Her hair looked soft and its brown color was bright. Her face wasn't wrinkly at all— maybe she was even less than fifty-seven. She welcomed them into the house and smiled at Daryl. 

"Oh, so this is the little boy" She said, staring at him with her big, brown eyes. Her thin body looked awesome in that red dress and her matching, red lips were still spread in a wide smile. Daryl nodded at her and stayed still, not knowing what to do then. "You can go play if yoy want to" She smiled once again, patting Daryl's shoulder, and then her attention got dragged to some other kids who were yelling. 

Daryl didn't know what to do or where to go— there were like four, maybe five children running around the whole house and it was quite invasive. He chose to sit down on the floor of the living room and watch TV with an old, grey-haired man. The man was sat on a wheelchair, covered with a red and green blanket, and he looked like he didn't feel well. Daryl stared at him, not knowing if he should say something to the zombie-like man, who stared at the TV as if it was the only thing in the world. And it wasn't an interesting show, not all— there were lots of old pictures and some other old stuff. 

Daryl started sucking his finger as boredom attacked him, which caused the ancient man to turn his head to look at him. 

"Aren't you too old for doing that?" The man's voice wasn't shaky or broken, as if his appearance didn't match what was on the inside. 

The question made Daryl feel confused— was he a an or a baby? Who should he be? Would it be better if he worked, paid bills and all those things adults do, or should he be himself and do things babies do? He wanted to be a little boy as long as it was possible, but no one else seemed to like it. Even Rick would get sick of having to take care of him all the time and then he'd be alone. He couldn't babysit himself. " 'm a baby, siw" He said, still sucking his thumb. The older man looked at him and shook his head, not understanding what was happening. Who could be as tall as a man and think they're babies? Suddenly, a pair of hands were put under his armpits and his whole body was lifted up, him leaving his spot on the floor and landing on someone's strong arms, being held 'bridal style'. He knew those arms, knew how comfortable they were and how much love they could show in one single hug. He giggled, stopped sucking his finger and turned his head towards the man's face. "Wick!" He said, hugging the sheriff's neck. "Hi, my baby boy! How are you?" Rick asked, smiling at the boy and staring at him with so much love and care his eyes shimmered and his face lit up. Watching him do anything— that felt like paradise itself. "Dunno" Daryl shrugged, trying to look careless despite his deep-hidden desire to cling to Rick's neck and stay like that forever. He pulled away, feeling bad for not knowing what to do. His mind said that je should be mad at Rick for leaving him alone with Shane (if his ass could think, it would tell him to be mad as well because his cheeks were still red and sore), but his heart didn't give a damn about pride and whatever there was in the way— HE WANTED RICK!!! "I'm sorry about yesterday, honey." Rick's eyes ceased shining and his mouth, as he finished talking, became an emotionless, straight line. "'S okay" Daryl stared down at his hands and starting playing with his fingers. He was nervous. Rick nodded and started bouncing him as he paced around the room with the boy, who constantly shifted as he felt his buttcheeks burn against the sheriff's hold on his body. "What's wrong, sweetie?" There was worry in Rick's voice, now that he noticed how Daryl was trying to avoid their contact. Maybe he wasn't feeling well, or.. What if he was hurt? What if Shane had hurt him? He had to check. Immediately. "Huits" The boy pointed at his bottom, pain each time more evident in his eyes. The sheriff nodded and started walking toward the bathroom. Once they were there, the door closed and no one around, he waited for Daryl to show him what was wrong. "I promise it'll be fine, okay baby? You trust me?" Rick petted Daryl's hair and tweaked his nose. He smiled as the boy nodded. "Okay, pup" He knelt down in front of Daryl, who immediately turned around. When Daryl pulled his pants and boxers down, showing his reddened and bruised butt, Rick let out a gasp and his eyes welled with tears. How could someone hurt a sweet boy like Daryl that way? It was HIS fault, for leaving him alone with that damn monster, when he knew that the other man was obviously mad at the boy and his eyes showed anger! "I-it's my fault, I-.. I'm the worst Daddy ever, boy.. I'm so, so sorry!" Rick sobbed, not knowing what to do to take Daryl's pain away from him. He felt so bad, so useless, so.. He felt like he couldn't do anything alright. The man was so lost in that agonizing pain it took him a couple of seconds to realize that those gentle touches on his shaved face came from Daryl and his soft hands. Rick looked up, seeing Daryl's beautiful blue eyes, which stared down at him and dove right into the pain that his eyes. Daryl hated seeing Rick sad, even though he had made him feel bad the night before. It didn't matter anymore, now that the man was crying and asking for his forgiveness as if it was the most precious thing in the world— and for him, it was. The boy smiled sweetly, caressing Rick's jaw and cheeks lovingly. The sheriff smiled despite the tears that were sliding down his face, sweetness drawing love in his eyes as his sight filled with Daryl's beautiful face. "Don' cwy.." Daryl murmured, his eyes filling with tears as well. Rick was the only person he would feel terribly if he saw him sad. " 's okay, Daddy.. Pwomise" "It's not okay, it's unfair! You are just a baby, my baby, and no one gets to do this to you and get away with it!" Rick bit into his bottom lip to muffle his sobs. Daryl knelt down in front of him and hugged him tightly. "Wife is unfaiw, Daddy. But you make it 'kay, y' a'ways do" Daryl almost felt big for a second, now him being the one to soothe the one who was crying. He liked taking care of Rick as well, feeling that it was mutual care and love. Rick couldn't believe what he had just heard. Daryl, his baby, was helping him calm down! He let out a muffled giggle. "Daryl, stop being that cute" The sheriff kissed Daryl's cheek. "You're gonna kill me with those puppy eyes someday" It was close to 6pm and Rick had taken Daryl to play upstairs with him, away from the other kids, who wouldn't leave them in peace. They were playing with some action figures that someday belonged to Shane, making up a story about super heroes and villains. Rick played with the bad people and Daryl fought against them with his plastic men. "NOW YOU'RE FINISHED, SPIDER-MAN!" Rick pretended a wicked laughter, moving his hand, which was holding a man with a black suit. None of the toys had the appearance of a hero, but they were just pretending. Daryl shook his head, reacting to what Rick had just said. "He's not Spidew-Man, Daddy!" Daryl giggled, causing Rick to stare at him. "He just heips peop'e when they'we fawing o' in dangew, but his name ain't that.". "What is it, then?" Rick was very curious, wanting to know what Daryl meant. The boy blushed and kept quiet. "C'mon, tell me!" He tickled Daryl's side, moving to the left to reach for his thin body. "'Kay, kay! Don' tick'e!" He laughed loudly, wiggling and trying to squirm away. Rick stopped tickling him and stared at his sweet face. "The hewo's name's Wick, a'cause you a'ways save me" At that moment, Daryl didn't even cara about his baby lisp and his difficulties with the way he spoke. He only cared about what Rick would think once he processed the information he was hearing. Rick's world seemed to stop as he realized how important he actually was to Daryl. The boy loved him in a way no one had before, not even Carl and Judith. Yes, his kids loved him a lot, but it wasn't that same love. It was beyond admiration and father-children love, it was like a friendship.. There was need, there was love... So much love! "Wha'?" Daryl asked, seeing that there was no response from Rick but just a stare that made him quite uncomfortable. "Nothing, I... Daryl, I love you" Grimes hugged the boy, pressing him tighlty against his chest. The little man hugged him as well, happy that he wasn't rejected. He was sick of people who didn't even stand seeing his face, so it made him happy to see that someone actually cared about him. "You're the best little boy I could've ever had, and I'm sooo glad we met! I promise I'll never let you go, won't leave you alone ever again." "Daddy, I 'ove you too" Daryl nuzzled Rick's neck, closing his eyes as he smelt his perfume. It was so 'Rick-like'. " 'm happy t' be youw baby" "And I'm happy to be your Daddy, my sweet boy" He tweaked Daryl's nose. "Think I got your nooose..." He sang, wiggling his fist and making it seem like there was something inside of it. Daryl started giggling and squirming as he tried to catch Rick's wrist. At 7:30p.m, everyone was having dinner, sat at the table. Shane didn't even bother helping Daryl to eat, knowing that the boy could barely cut his own food, so Rick took care of it and sat Daryl on his lap, feeding him from his own plate. He couldn't believe how well Daryl behaved, even though he was technically a man and not a baby. There were fifteen people, if not more, having dinner and talking to each other, which made Daryl uncomfortable. Too many eyes that could stare at him and too many mouths that could laugh at him and say mean things regarding to his lifestyle.

"Okay everyone, let's open the presents!" Shane's mother said, pointing her index finger at the big tree placed in the middle of the big living room. Under the lowest, green branches, there were lots of colorful packages with red or golden ribbons. 

"PRESENTS!!!" All the kids ran towards the room, sitting right in front of the huge, colorful and decorated tree, waiting for their parents to give them permission to open them. 

But Daryl didn't move an inch, absolutely not excited about the presents and everything. He knew that, even if Rick had actually gotten him some presents, Shame wouldn't let him have them. So he stayed sat at the table, alone with Rick, until the man decided to stand up. 

"Whe'e you goin'?" The pup asked, tilting his head with confusion as he felt Rick moved from underneath him and stood up, leaving him sat down on the chair. 

"I'm gonna go get you your presents, buddy!" The man spoke excitedly, smiling at him. Daryl blushed and stared down, embarrassed of having to tell Rick that he couldn't have his presents. "Wait here, pretty boy" He indicated, winking at him and heading to the living room. 

As he got there, one of the kids, a little boy, handed Rick one of the boxes and stared at him intensely. 

"Who the hell is 'Daryl'?" The boy said, confused because he hadn't seen Rick's pup before. 

"Daryl is my baby" Rick smiled proudly and grabbed all the presents he had bought for his boy. 

"You mean the man?" The boy, whose name was Kyle, laughed and pointed at Daryl, who was in the next room. Rick sighed, knowing that the kid's shrilly voice had obviously been heard by his baby. He prayed for him to be too distracted to notice. 

As he got to the table Daryl was still sat at, he piled the boxes up onto the wooden surface and sat down next to the boy, staring at him as if he was insisting on him to open the packages up. 

When Daryl opened the first one, he was very surprised that he had gotten toys, his first toys! The other ones were also toys and some clothes, very nice ones, which Daryl couldn't stop staring at. All those things were his and only his, not someone else's old stuff! 

"Daddy, I..." Daryl couldn't continue talking as his eyes filled with tears and he started crying because of the emotions he was feeling. He couldn't believe that someone who wasn't even obliged to get him anything would care so much to buy him such nice presents! 

"Daryl, sweet boy.." Rick hugged the pup tightly, pressing him against his chest and swaying back and forth as he tried to help him call down. 

"Thank you, Daddy" Daryl smiled, kissing Rick's cheek. The man smiled as well and petted his hair. "But I didn't buy you any pwesents" He felt bad for his actual caregiver, the one who really cared about him, who he had nothing for. 

"YOU are my Christmas present, baby. You, being with me tonight.. That's what matters" 

 

≧﹏≦


	6. MY baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gleeful Christmas party becomes a tense hell as Shane and Rick fight over Daryl's punishment, which happened at Walsh's house the night before.  
> Daryl wants candies and he asks for them, causing Shane to tease him about the way he speaks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MY baby!:  
> Trigger warning: harsh words, lisp shaming, mentions of punishments and angst.

It was late that night and everyone was getting ready to leave, but Daryl was trying his best to stay as long as possible because he knew that he wouldn't be able to see Rick and to be under his supervision. So he clung to Rick and, even if the man went to the bathroom, he waited outside just to make sure he wouldn't leave at the house when he wasn't looking. Rick and Daryl were cuddling on the couch while they watched a cartoon movie that was on television. The little boy giggled at some things the characters said, half focusing on the plot of the film and half focusing on hugging Rick and not falling asleep so that Shane wouldn't want to take him to the house. 

"Baby, aren't you tired yet?" Rick asked, staring at Daryl's back and wondering if his eyes were closed or not. Maybe they were and he was sleeping quiet and peacefully, or maybe he was wide awake and his eyes were as open as an owl's. He shook Daryl gently by his shoulder, causing the boy to turn around and look at him with as much of concern as a face could show. 

(Maybe he wants to leave), Daryl thought, holding back a pitiful whimper. 

"What is it, sweetheart? Did I scare you?" His hand squeezed Daryl's shoulder gently as he stared at the pup's saddened face. 

"No wanna go" He pouted, showing Rick his most adorable puppy eyes. Rick's heart seemed to stop for a second as his brain processed what his eyes had just seen— Daryl was definitely the embodiment of tenderness and sweetness. 

Rick thought about it for a second, considering all his options and choosing to stop letting chances pass by in front of him as he watched them go away, and deciding to finally do something for real. He would do it for Daryl, to protect him from the monster his beat friend had become. He would NOT let Daryl be a victim of that neglectful man! There was no way he would let the little boy continue suffering that horrible pain— this had to stop, abuse had to stop immediately! 

"Would you like to meet Sugar tonight?" His method of asking was not aggressive and shocking, him knowing that telling him about his plan right away would be kind of stupid because the boy might not take it well. 

Daryl's face became a little creased as he furrowed his brow and wrinkled his nose. Rick giggled and petted his soft hair. 

"I... I... Wick, wha'...?" Daryl stumbled over words. 

"I want you to come to my house tonight, now that we know each other a lot and you trust me. Does it sound okay to you, my prince?" Grimes caressed the boy's cheek as his lips spread in a smile. Daryl nodded shyly and Rick's smile grew wider. "I think we'd make a good team for making chocolate chips cookies, right? Or maybe to play with your new toys? I'm eager to try them out, what do you think?" 

"Shane won't 'et me. He's mean" Daryl's eyes weren't shining anymore, as Rick could see. The boy was sad again. No. He wasn't gonna let him get sad because of that son of a stupid bitch. 

"If I do Shane's job, which is taking care of you, he'd be glad to accept, believe me" Rick gave Daryl a reassuring smile and petted his hair, then standing up to go and talk to the man who used to be his friend. 

As soon as Daryl was left alone by his Daddy, he stood up and walked towards the kitchen, where he knew the candies were. He wasn't hungry, not after eating from Rick's plate during dinner, but he wanted to taste those sweet lollipops and candy canes with beautiful colors. 

Daryl spotted a woman, who was already in the kitchen, and realized that she was doing the washing-up and that she might know where the candies were. Slowly, he approached her and tugged at her black dress, causing her to gasp. He stared at her, confused as he didn't know what the hell had been wrong with him and his way to pop up in the middle of an almost empty, silent room. The woman turned to him and with an angry face, she swore. Daryl's eyes opened wider, and then hers did as well. 

"I'm sorry, little Daryl. I didn't realize it was you" She was nice and the way she spoke was calm and smooth. Daryl guesses he liked her, but never as much as he liked his Daddy. "What do you need?" 

"Tieats!" He smiled and his eyes lit up. Treats, he wanted treats! 

The blonde woman furrowed her brow, not understanding why a 'little boy' would want 'tits'. Yes, maybe Daryl meant to say 'treats', but it actually sounded like 'tits'. 

"You want WHAT?" She laughed, not at him but at the obvious misunderstanding. 

"Tieats, candies..." He shrugged, smiling even though he wanted to flip her off. Why was she laughing at him and his baby lisp? Why was everyone that mean? 

"Okay, okay... We'll go ask Shane, okay? If he says it's fine, then you'll have your candies, little one" He smiled as she still spoke nicely to him and didn't continue laughing, and he also liked what she called him. But he liked it better when Rick called him nice things. 

The woman took Daryl's hand and led him towards the dining room, where most of the men were drinking and only one was helping to clean everything up. Rick was sat on a chair, talking to Shane as he had promised, and Daryl assumed everything was going just fine because of the look on Rick's face. He didn't seem worried or mad, and that made Daryl very happy. Once they were there, right in front of the black-haired sheriff, the woman spoke. 

"Daryl wants to ask you if he can eat some candy. Can he?" She said nicely, ignoring the man's strange stare. 

"Let him speak for himself, Sarah. Or can't him?" He teased, causing Rick to roll his eyes and stretch out his arm to reach for Daryl's hair and pet it smoothly as he knew the boy liked. 

"I want tieats!" He smiled at Rick as he spoke, causing everyone to laugh, even Rick. The little boy stared at the man, disappointed by his laughter. He didn't understand why now everyone laughed at him, when they all knew about his problem regarding to speech. He pouted and started crying, because it was unfair that not even Rick helped being mean. 

"Baby, no.. Don't cry" Rick bit into his bottom lip as his arms embraced Daryl's thin body. The boy didn't even have enough energy to squirm, but he still showed how mad he was by whimpering and grunting. "I wasn't laughing at you, my little boy." He kissed Daryl's forehead and sat him on his lap and bounced him to help him calm down. 

"You want tits, huh? Yeah, you're showing your actual man side, my dear friend. You're not a baby!" Shane was laughing as he drank some wine. Sarah stared at him blankly and let go of the boy, then walking back to the kitchen. 

"I AM a baby!" Daryl whined and Rick held him close to his chest. The sheriff continued bouncing Daryl, now pressing little kisses on his hair and shoulders. 

"You're so gay, guys" Shane laughed, causing Rick to cringe. WHAT?! They were just friends and their only relationship consisted in a non-sexual Daddy/Baby connection! He looked at Daryl, whose eyes were filling with tears, and bit into his bottom lip. "I can't believe someone like you would want a lisping baby who wets the bed!" 

"Shane, I don't want you to see him anymore. He'll be MY baby from now on, and the Police Department won't get to know about this. You'll get the promotion and everything, but Daryl will live with me." Rick said sternly, causing the boy and the other man to look at him both confused and surprised. 

"Okay, but I don't want you knocking on my door next week saying that you wanna take him back. No refunds, man. Got it?" Walsh says, but Rick isn't paying attention anymore and Daryl isn't either. They're too happy smiling at each other as they know that there will be no more pain and tears. 

When Daryl sees Rick's house, his jaw hangs open. It was a big place, beautiful and with a lot of rooms. It's not a mansion, but it's perfect and Daryl can't be in any more awe as his eyes travel all over the place. He sighs deeply and follows Rick inside, where he finally stands wordless and with tears in his eyes. The man hugs Daryl and guides him through the whole house. The walls are white almost everywhere, the rooms are clean and the air is fresh. Daryl completely loves it and his mind wonders if he actually deserves to liklve in a place like that one, but his heart doesn't hesitate to enjoy what surrounds him, specially Rick. 

"Do you like it, beautiful?" Rick pets the pup's hair as he sits down on the couch and leads Daryl to sit on his lap, hugging him tightly against his chest. 

"I... I feei 'ike a pwincess" The fair-haired boy took the twentieth look at his surroundings and sighed deeply, causing Rick to chuckle. 

"You mean this is your palace?" He asks, bouncing Daryl on his thighs. The boy nods and snuggles up against Rick's collar bone. "Mm.. Looks like my baby is cuddly tonight, huh? Does he want to sleep with Daddy or in your bed?" 

Daryl couldn't believe it: DID HE HAVE HIS OWN BED?! When Rick said he loved him, he ACTUALLY meant it because he had everything ready for him to belong there with him.

"With Daddy, p'ease!" Daryl said, starting tu suck his thumb and nuzzling Rick's skin as his steady breathing soothed him into slumber. 

"Okay, okay... Let's go get you ready, my sweet prince" Rick spoke, scooping Daryl up and walking towards the bedroom, where he already had everything set up for the boy. Once they entered the room, Rick laid Daryl down onto the mattress and grabbed the bag of diapers from one of the drawers of his dresser and then he took a pair or sweatpants and a T-shirt. "It's kinda hot in here because we have a heater, so... Do you think it'll be okay if you wear jammies or don't you wanna wear anything but the diaper?"

Daryl's face turned red at the thought of Rick seeing him in nothing but a diaper. "Jammies, p'ease", he answered. 

As he still hadn't gotten used to it, his face went redder when he felt Rick's gentle hands pulling his pants and underwear down and taking those off. He knew that Rick was gonna see the few drops of pee that he had accidentally let out before, so he his his face behind his hands. 

"Don't you worry, pup. At least you made it to the bathroom, right?" The sheriff petted Daryl's hair and then lifted the boy's thin legs to slide a diaper under his bottom, sprinkling powder all over the zone and then tapping it up. Afterwards, Rick put Daryl on the clothes he had grabbed for him. "Okay, now let me change my clothes and then we'll cuddle for a little bit. Does it sound good, my little boy?" The man tweaked Daryl's nose, making him giggle. "Make yourself comfortable while I put on my jammies, okay?" Daryl nodded and curled up against the pillow, which he used as a 'stuffy' to hug, and then he wrapped himself up with the blankets. 

Once Rick was ready, he laid down next to the relaxed pup and hugged his waist. "I love you, baby" 

"I 'ove you too, Daddy" Daryl whispered, closing his eyes and letting Rick's embrace slowly lure him into sleep. 

≧﹏≦ 

Sooooo... DARYL'S FINALLY AT HOME WITH HIS DADDY!!! YAY!!! 

Sorry for taking so long :c and thanks for not killing me for it c: <3 Love y'all! 


	7. Talk, talk and... BUNNY!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's just Rick and Daryl talking about the rules of the house and everything they have to do to make each other feel comfortable. And Rick also introduces Sugar to Daryl, who gets a little scared at first but then can't stop petting the fluffy thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talk, talk and... BUNNY!!!:  
> Warning: DARYL IS TOO ADORABLEEE!!! <3

"Would you rather be called 'pup' or 'sweetie', other than your beautiful name?" Rick asked, actually interested in whatever Daryl's general preferences were. He wanted to make sure the boy was comfortable and felt at home, just the way it was supposed to be, and this was the way to do it: asking for answers. 

The boy hummed and seemed to be thinking about it for a couple of seconds. "I 'ike it bettew when you ca' me 'sweetie', but 's okay if you want to ca' me 'pup'. Tha's nice too" Daryl tried to ignore his 'annoying' baby lisp, but he knew he'd never be able to forget about it, unless he invented a new language that excluded r's and l's. Anyway, it was a mess and he knew nobody would bother to help him fix it. 

"And do you like it when we cuddle up in my bed?" Rick knew he would be glad to have Daryl snuggled up against him all and every night, but there would be problems, which he didn't want to be in the middle of. 

"I 'ove it, Daddy!" Daryl smiled widely and hugged tightly to Rick's neck. The man giggled and stroked his arm with patience, not feeling able to breathe but giving it a moment for Daryl to enjoy the hug. 

"Okay..." Rick had hoped Daryl would say that he liked it better if he slept alone, but that wasn't the case. He was apparently a clingy baby when it's about sleep, and here the problem came: Judith. She loved sleeping every Friday right beside his dad, even though she wasn't a baby anymore and she could sleep on her own. Rick loved sharing that moment with his little daughter, and sincerely would choose her over Daryl if he had to. It was sad, but it's the truth. He loved being Daryl's daddy, but blood always came first and that was not negotiable. "You can sleep with me in the big bed everyday but Fridays, okay? Judith and Carl come here every Friday and she loves..." 

"I get it" Daryl nodded, cutting him off. He didn't need to know all that. His life had sucked since he was born, but he knew well that other people had actual families with lovely traditions and beautiful family pictures with actual smiles. He understood their love and all that stuff, but that didn't mean he didn't feel jealous. Even being mentally a baby, he had deep thoughts and he was able to understand lots of things. He understood love, but that doesn't mean he had ever felt it. 

"Daryl, don't get mad. Please" Rick placed a kiss on Daryl's bare shoulder and bounced him on his lap afterwards. The boy hummed and shrugged, pretending he didn't mind giving Judith her space with his dad every Friday. But it was stupid. "Okay, so... I'll continue with the questions" He paused, sighed and spoke again: "Would you want me to call a babysitter every day I have to go to work, or shouldI call my mom to take care of you? I can't leave you on your own and I'd wanna know what'd you prefer" 

"Whatevew you say's fine, Daddy. I twust ev'wyone you twust" Daryl smiled and rested his head onto Rick's shoulder, which felt very comfortable. 

"Okay, I'll call my mom. She's really nice with kids and I'm sure she'll love you as much as she loves Carl and Judith" Rick explained sweetly and Daryl nodded in agreement. "Now, I'll tell you the rules of the house. We can discuss anything you don't feel comfortable with, okay?" 

"'Kay, Daddy" Daryl closed his eyes, relaxed with his thumb stuck in his mouth and his head still resting peacefully against Rick's shoulder. 

"Rule number one: Always listen to Daddy and ask for permission to do anything you're not sure you should do. 

Rule number two: Be nice and polite, and don't say harsh words. Daddy likes it when you're kind and sweet. 

Rule number three: There will be rewards if you do things as you're told, like the good boy I know you are, but there will also be punishments in case you disobey me. We still have to discuss which punishments should work for us. 

And that's all.. You can ask me whatever you need to know if you have doubts" 

Daryl seemed to think about it for a couple of seconds and then spoke: "Daddy... Pee pee" The boy pouted and stared at Rick with his eyes wide open. The sheriff chuckled, nodded and stood up to go to the bathroom and grab a fresh diaper and the other supplies he would need. Once he was back in the living room, Rick helped the little boy lay down onto the couch and started unzipping his jeans, then tugging them down and untapping the diaper. 

"Thank you for telling me about it, baby. It's very wet and if you waited for me to notice about this, it could've caused a rash" Rick spoke, cleaning the baby up with a washcloth and causing him to cover his face with both of his hands. 

"Daddy, is it too gwoss to cwean me up?" Daryl spoke, completely embarrassed. Rick chuckled and shook his head. 

"No, of course not! You're my baby!" Rick now tossing the dirty diaper into the trash can and grabbing a new one from the bag. Then, he gently lifted Daryl up from the couch to place the new diaper under the boy's bottom and started sprinkling some powder onto his private parts, tapping it closed afterwards. "So... Do you want me to put you on your pants again, or...?" 

"Pants, p'ease" Daryl felt embarrassed by thinking of himself walking around just in his T-shirt and a diaper, and it was so weird to him! He didn't want anyone to actually see what he was wearing, despite knowing that its shape was noticeable because of the thick material it was made of. 

They were outside in the backyard, walking towards a big cage that was covered by a blanket. Daryl was very excited about it because he knew that Sugar was right there, waiting for him to go find her. Once they were close, he ran until he was right in front of the big thing. 

"You could wait for Daddy, huh? He's a bit old to run" Rick sighed and lifted the cage up, carrying it to take it into the house. "I let her out to get some fresh air, but has to come back inside because it's very cold outside and that's not good for her" As they were back inside, Rick placed the cage on the floor of the kitchen and took the blanket off of it for Daryl to see the tiny, white animal. 

"DADDY, SHE'S SO PWETTY!!!" The little boy sat down on the floor and started trying to open the small door that kept her inside. 

"Don't open it, baby. She always wants to escape and that'd be dangerous for her because it's too cold outside and she won't survive" Rick spoke, sitting down right next to Daryl and watching him stare at the bunny. He looked so beautiful, more than ever, focusing on something and giving it all of his attention. 

"P'ease. Let hew out?" The boy pleaded, pouting and now staring at Rick with big puppy eyes. 

"No, Daryl. She's gonna escape and I don't want to spend the whole day trying to catch her and running all over the house" Rick rolled his eyes and shook his head. Daryl let out a whine. 

"P'ease... Jus' for a second, Daddy. Wanna touch hew, but the baws of the cage don' 'et me" He pouted even more, trying to convince Rick. 

Grimes shook his head. "No means no, Daryl. Don't wanna have to repeat it" 

"You'we mean" The boy whined, bursting into tears. It wasn't fair, he just wanted to touch the bunny and Rick didn't let him! 

"Daryl, boy... I--" Rick didn't like it when Daryl or Carl or Judith cried, that was the worst thing to watch in the world. "Okay, okay... Let me take her out. Don't cry, okay baby?" 

"'Kay" The whiny boy rubbed his red, puffy eyes and tried to calm down as he watched Rick start taking Sugar out of her cage. The bunny was quite chubby and didn't come out easily, which caused Daryl to giggle. Rick smiled to Daryl, happy to see he wasn't crying anymore. 

"Okay, boy... Now you gotta be very careful to to let her go, or she'll run away. If you get tired of holding her, you tell me, okay?" Rick explained, placing the furry girl into Daryl's arms, getting ready to watch the most adorable spectacle ever.

"Mhm" The boy nodded. "Owww" He was impressed by how soft and fluffy the bunny was. "What a cute giww" His fingers started trying to tickle the animal's ears, soon noticing she didn't laugh because they don't laugh. "Guess bunnies awe not tickwish" He shrugged, causing Rick to chuckle. That boy was so, so little it was kind of impossible to believe. "Who's Dawyw's bunny, huh?" He played with her. 

"Hey, she's MY bunny. But I can share her with you" Rick caressed her soft hair. 

"But who named hew? You?" Daryl laughed, hugging Sugar. 

"Guess you're right. Fifty and fifty, fair?"

"We not gonna eat hew, wight?" Daryl asked, very worried. Rick laughed and shook his head. "Thanks"

They played a little bit more, and then Rick told Daryl they'd have to out her back inside of her cage because she was tired, which caused the boy to get kind of sad... Until Rick promised him he'd be able to play with her the next day and gave him some candies.

"I guess we're gonna have to go shopping to get you some new clothes and other baby things, right?" Rick asked, watching Daryl suck his thumb. The boy looked at him, paying attention. 

"Wha' othew baby fings?" He spoke around his thumb. 

"I don't know... We can buy whatever you want, little boy. Pacifiers, sleepers, toys... What would you like, pup?" Rick bounced Daryl on his lap, stopping him from paying attention to the TV. 

"Pacifiews, Daddy!" Daryl smiled. 

"Okay, my little prince" Rick kissed his cheek. "We can have whatever you want"


	8. Bad boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carl and Judith come over Rick's house, and some jealousy bug stings Carl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MY dad:  
> Trigger warning: Carl is an asshole, Judith is an awesome "big" sister, Rick is a good daddy and Daryl is a whiny baby. Sugar tries to escape the house.  
> First time out and spanking. :c
> 
> Please check on my new story, "Daryl's acting weird". It's also an Infantilism story, so I think you'll like it. <3 Love y'all!!!

Rick was explaining Daryl what would happen during the whole day, and that had them stressed already. Knowing that his siblings were coming home was worrying Daryl, causing him to be a little bit cranky. Grimes knew this was gonna happen and tried to be patient with the little boy, realizing this whole thing made him nervous. There's no need to say that he's nervous as well, mostly because he knows it wasn't a smart thing to do not to tell his children about bringing a new person into the family. But there had been no time to think or to tell anyone about anything— ha had to save Daryl from Shane's maltreatment and that was all that mattered then. 

A part of him was at ease by the knowledge of how good Carl and Judith were when it was about comprehension and being nice to other people, but family stuff was way too different from any other situations they might get involved in. Rick was mad at himself for not thinking straight when he made all this happen, so disorganized and not well done, but it was too late to change it and time was ticking by. 

"I'm sure Judith's gonna bring toys. She's a lovely girl and loves sharing, you know?" He bounced Daryl on his lap while he spoke, smiling at the boy and causing him to blush. "And Carl might teach you how to play with his new computer games. He's a genius at doing anything technological. I bet you'll like it!" There was no way to talk Daryl's anguish away, and that was starting to worry him. He didn't wanna have to deal with an upset baby, a talkative little girl and an adolescent all day long. Damn... What could he do? 

"They's gonna laugh a' me" The pup pouted. Rick let out a defeated sigh and shook his head. "They's gonna see ma diapew and gonna make fun 'a me" His eyes filled with tears as he spoke. He never had any problems with his diapers —they mostly made him feel at ease because there wouldn't be any problems if he had an accident—, but today was a completely different thing and Daryl's mood seemed to be worsening each second. 

"No, no... They're not like that, they won't laugh at you. There's nothing wrong with you they could laugh at, baby boy" Rick kissed Daryl's cheek and continued bouncing him. "I promise you, boy... They're good children, just like you." Rick tweaked Daryl's nose and pretended to pull it out of its place. "Here, I got your nose! I got your baby nose" Rick swayed his hand in front of Daryl's face, watching his eyes follow the invisible nose that was being held by Rick's fingers. "Oops... I think I'm hungry" Rick touched his belly and grimaced. Daryl's eyes opened widely. 

"If ya eat ma nose..." He warned, glaring at him and frowning playfully. 

Rick pretended to shove the invisible nose into his mouth and started chewing. Daryl gasped. 

"Daddy, don' swa'ow, don' swa'ow... Noo..." Daryl pouted, trying to force Rick's mouth open while a giggle escaped his mouth. Rick swallowed and then opened his empty mouth. "Daddy!" The boy pretended to cry. "How 'm I gonna smeww now?" He seemed to think about it for a little bit meanwhile Rick watched him with a smile spread on his face, and then he smiled as well, pretending to have something in his hand. "Ha ha... If I pwess dis button, ma nose wi' gwow 'gain." 

"Oh, yeah...? You got a magic button to make your nose reappear in its place?" Rick giggled at the little boy's imagination. 

"Yesh... Watch" He pretended to press the button and then smiled and brought his hand up to his face to 'touch the new nose'. Rick was going to say something, when the bell rang and he heard Judith's laughter on the other side of the door. Daryl gasped and ran upstairs, not even giving Rick a chance to help him down his lap. 

Eager to see his other kids, Rick walked towards the door and opened it with a smile on his face. As soon as he saw Judith, he smiled at the little girl and stepped aside to let them in, seeing Lori wave one last time at them before turning around and leave. 

"Hi dad" Carl spoke, smiling briefly before walking into the kitchen and sitting at the table.

"Hi Daddy, I missed you" Judith smiled and waited for Rick to scoop her up. Once he did so, she kissed him sweetly on the cheek, without minding his stubble. 

"I missed you too, princess" Rick petted her fair hair and carried her to the kitchen, where he sat her down at the table. 

Rick didn't know how to start explaining Carl and Judith about their new brother, so he decided to just call him and introduce him to them. He could bet it would be a little shocking at first, but they'd get used to it eventually. 

"Daryl, sweetpea, come downstairs, please" Rick called him, waiting to hear the footsteps going down the wooden stairs anytime soon. Carl stared at him without knowing what was going on. Judith played with a doll she had just pulled out of her pink bag. "Daryl..." He really didn't want to have to call him a third time, he hated counting and didn't want to start the day with a disobedient boy. Luckily for him, he didn't. Daryl went downstairs as he was told, but his face showed panic as he spotted his new siblings sat at the table in the kitchen. Rick waved him to come over. 

"Who is this?" Carl asked, frowning. Daryl looked down. 

"Carl, Judith... This is Daryl, your little brother" Rick smiled, hoping for them not to freak out. Carl let out a laugh and stared at the fair-haired man in front of him. 

"Little? This man? Dad, please..." Carl continued laughing. Daryl looked at Rick, as if looking for an explanation that excused the older boy's behavior. Rick closed his eyes and sighed in defeat, knowing that it would be a long day. "No, really... Who is this?" 

"I already told you, son... I adopted Daryl because he was maltreated at the temporary home he was living in, and now he'll be your new baby brother" Rick sat down and patted his thigh so that Daryl sat down like everyone else. "I want you two to help me take care of him, and also to respect him as much as he'll respect you, okay?" 

"Okay, daddy" Judith smiled and walked towards the fair-haired man, whose hand she took to guide him to her bedroom, which she shared with Carl. "Let's go, I have some things I wanna show you" She said, tuggig at Daryl's hand and leading the way upstairs. 

Once they entered the bedroom and the door closed with a "click", Carl glared at his father while a frown darkened his blue eyes. The man's heart started beating faster than usual. 

"Don't you see he's an adult? He doesn't need other people to take care of him, dad. He's a grown up man and he should be at work now." The adolescent spoke, obviously jealous and angry. Rick rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. 

"I understand that you're mad at me, but don't be mean to him. He's a lovely child and I'm sure--" 

"I want you to give him back, don't want him here. He's only gonna ruin our family" Carl stood up, turning away from his father and heading upstairs. He was gonna make Daryl's life as miserable as he could, that was settled. 

Judith let out a giggle when she saw how Daryl picked up his cup of tea. She didn't usually like playing with "girly stuff", but Daryl had insisted that he wanted to play princesses and she couldn't say no to such a sweet boy. 

"Daryl, that's not how you hold a cup of tea. Princesses lift up their pinky." She said childishly, smiling at the little boy, who frowned. "It's weird, I know" She giggled. 

"Ya suwe Daddy won' get mad?" Daryl looked around, afraid of anyone else watching them play. He didn't want to be seen wearing red lipstick and a princess crown, that would be totally embarrassing. He blushed at the thought of getting caught.

"Dad is as open minded as me, he wouldn't get mad" She always spoke in a smart way, politely and with a vast vocabulary that was kind of impressive. She was seven years old, but whoever that only heard her talk and didn't see her wouldn't guess her age. 

"Why does Caiw hate me?" Daryl asked, staring wide eyed at Judith, then focusing on lifting his little finger up just like princesses do. 

Judith almost spat out her imaginary tea. 

"He's just jealous because he thinks you're gonna take his place. He just can't see how good you are— I think he's crazy." She smiled almost apologetically at Daryl, taking one last sip of her air-tea before start putting everything away. 

"What do we p'ay now?" Daryl spoke, causing Judith to shrug. "Youw tu'n ta pick" 

"It could be dolls, don't you think?" She ran towards a pink doll house she had, which was full of colorful things and cute dolls. She stared at Daryl and he shrugged, not giving any actual opinion. "It could be a story about Barbie being a warrior, right? I like guns" She smiled, pulling out a mini- machine gun. Daryl let out a "wow" and Judith nodded. "Pretty cool, huh?" 

"So coow" Daryl giggled. 

Carl entered the room and glared at Daryl, who was sitting on the floor right next to his sister, playing with a doll. Once he was in there, he noticed a strange smell and he wrinkled his nose. It smelt like... 

"DAAAAAD, DARYL POOPED HIS PANTS!!!" Carl shouted, then laughing at the little boy, who frowned as his eyes filled with tears. He wasn't a yucky boy, he was a good one. 

"I didn't. YOU pooped" Daryl wrinkled his nose, glaring at his "big" brother. The oldest Grimes in the room let out a goofy giggle and laid down onto his bed. 

"Sure. That's why YOU smell" Carl rolled his eyes and grimaced. He had gotten to embarrass Daryl! Good (for him)! 

"I don'! YOU do!" The little boy yelled angrily, his whole face reddening and heating up. He was NOT a messy and smelly baby, and no one could talk about him as if he was! 

Worried because of all the yelling, Rick went upstairs and opened the door of the bedroom, finding a crying Daryl, an upset Carl and a sleeping Judith. It was definitely a complete mess. 

"What's going on here?" The oldest Grimes asked, scooping Daryl up from the floor and set him on his hip, bouncing him to help him calm down. "What's up, little boy?" Rick felt really bad whenever any of his kids cried, but watching Daryl cry was so heartbreaking he needed him to stop in that exact moment before he started crying too. 

"Caiw 'augh at me" Daryl spoke between sobs and hiccups, then burying his face into Rick's chest. 

"Shh, shh... My little boy" Rick placed a kiss on Daryl's hair and continued bouncing him. "I bet you need a diaper change and a nap, huh?" He said, speaking in an almost whispered tone. 

"See? I was right" Carl smiled. Daryl pulled away from Rick's chest and frowned at the teenager, who smiled with joy. 

"NO! YOU'WE NO' WIGHT, I'M WIGHT! I DON' SMEWW, 'M NO' A MESSY BABY!" He yelled. Rick looked at him full with surprise, obviously not having expected that reaction from the boy. The sheriff patted Daryl's diapered bottom as a warning. 

"Yes, little man. You're getting your diaper changed and then you're gonna sleep that mood off" Rick carried Daryl towards his bedroom, where he made him lay down onto the soft mattress of the bed. He quickly changed his diaper and then put him on his jammies, getting him ready to be tucked in. 

"Caiw go nap too" Daryl pouted. It was not fair! Carl had been bothering him, and once he makes it stop he gets punished unfairly. Rick is mean, he thinks. 

"No, little boy. Carl was right telling me about your messy diaper, and you didn't react well, that's all." Rick caressed Daryl's soft hair and smiled at him. He was very patient with his kids, they just weren't having a good day. "Sleep tight, baby" 

"Mean" Daryl whispered underneath his breath when Rick left the room. It was so unfair! He continued sobbing until he fell asleep. 

It had been an hour and a half since he had tucked Daryl in bed, so he was trying to make him get up to go downstairs and eat something. 

"C'mon, sweetheart... Let's go have lunch, pretty boy" Rick left kisses all over Daryl's face. The boy turned around, still mad at his Daddy. No, when he's mean he's not Daddy, he's just Rick. "Hey, I understand..." He tickled Daryl's side, but the boy grunted and squirmed away from Rick's touch. "If you go downstairs with me and have lunch PEACEFULLY with us, then you get to play with Sugar for a little bit. Doesn't it sound good, sweetie?" 

Daryl turned around to face Rick and narrowed his eyes. "'Kay, but I get to take hew ou'" 

"Mmm... Only if you don't fight with Carl" Rick said and Daryl nodded. It would be just a little while and Rick would be watching, so if there was any maltreatment he would know that he was a good baby and that he did NOT do anything wrong. 

"'Kay, et's go" Daryl waited until Rick lifted him up from the bed. 

Daryl had eaten all his food and hadn't said a word during the whole meal, which meant Rick was really happy with his behavior and told him he would get to take Sugar out of her cage and play with her, only if he was responsible and watched her so that she didn't run off. 

"Okay, boy... Now play with her in the kitchen while I wash the dishes. You'll have to put her back in when I finish, okay?" Rick started washing the silverware while he heard Daryl talk to the bunny. 

"I 'ove you, Sugaw. I missed you" He hugged the furry animal and started placing kisses all over her. 

Rick smiled at the thought of Daryl being such a sweet baby, but didn't say anything just not to bother him. 

"Sugaw" Daryl laughed as the bunny tickled his neck with her twitching ears. Rick laughed at Daryl's sweet, baby laughter. "I' vewy tick'ish, so don' do that, 'kay?" 

Rick was very sorry there weren't any other things to wash, because watching and hearing Daryl laughing and playing with the bunny was so funny and adorable he never wanted to stop. But he had told Daryl about when to put her back into her cage, and he had to teach the boy to be responsible, so despite hating to do it, he approached Daryl and stared at him, waiting for him to realize what he was supposed to do. 

"A bit mo', Daddy!" Daryl pleaded, pouting and making puppy eyes. Rick shook his head. "But Daaadyyy... P'ease..." His eyes started filling with tears. He just wanted to play with the bunny! 

"Daryl, if you don't do what I already told you to do, I'm not gonna let you play with her until next week" Rick said sternly, hating to treat his boy like that. The boy pouted, feeling his tears start rolling down his cheeks. "Daryl, do I have to---?" 

"No, Daddy..." He put her into her cage a d closed the small door. "Bye, Sugaw" Daryl continued pouting and sobbed a little bit while he walked towards the glass door that led to the backyard. 

Daryl and Judith were playing with her dolls, when Carl appeared to tell them something. Well... He just wanted to talk to Daryl and tell HIM something. Once they got to the kitchen, Carl opened Sugar's cage and let her out. 

"Dad said you could play a little more" Carl winked at Daryl, who smiled widely and hugged the animal. Then, the teenager went upstairs and Judith went with Daryl to play with the animal. 

"She's so pretty, right?" Judith hugged the white, chubby thing and tickled her belly, even though she knew it wouldn't cause her any tickles. 

"Yesh" Daryl smiled at the sight of his new sister, feeling happt to have her in his life. She was such a good girl who cared a lot about him, and the fact that they were able to play and be together made him very happy.

"Kay, be right back" Judith said after a few minutes, getting up and walking to the bathroom, leaving Daryl alone with Sugar. 

"Oh, Sugaw... You'we sooooo pwetty!" Daryl said, holding her tight in his arms. He was so entertained he hadn't heard the approaching footsteps until Rick was standing right behind him with a disappointed look on his face. He couldn't believe his boy had been so disobedient. 

"I thought I had told you not to play with Sugar without my permission, Daryl" Grimes spoke, startling Daryl and making him gasp as his arms let go of the bunny that was being held between them. She started to jump towards the door as soon as there was nothing holding her. Rick grunted. "Okay, I'll put her back in and then we'll have a little talk, young man" Rick quickly ran and lifted the animal up from the floor, then walking to the kitchen and getting her settled into her big cage. 

"Daddy--" 

"No Daryl, don't talk. I'm very, very disappointed by your behavior today. I already let all the yelling slide this morning, but I'm not gonna let you disobey me anymore." Rick sat down onto a chair and tugged at Daryl's hand until the boy was laying across his lap. Daryl knew what was going to happen then, and that's why he started squirming and crying. "Daryl" Rick hissed. 

"No, Daddy... P'ease... You said ai could p'ay... Caiw said I cou'd..." Daryl kicked and squirmed, not giving Rick a chance to hold him still... Until the older man managed to tug his pants down and smacked him on the thigh. "Oww!" Daryl whimpered, sobbing and shrieking, causing Rick's heart to break. "You'we so mean!" Daryl continued crying and squirming. 

"Daryl, stop it! If you decide to disobey, then you have to know that there are consequences. I am not mean, you are a bad boy." 

Bad boy. Those two words echoed in Daryl's head during the whole session of spanking, keeping him from paying attention to the pain and making him think about how good he'd have to be not to get kicked out... If Rick hadn't decided to take him back to Shane already. He wasn't bad, it hadn't been HIS fault... Carl had set him up and his childish mind couldn't detect it before it was too late. He was being punished for something that someone else had done, but no one would believe him if he told the truth. What should he do? Maybe he should just prepare and wait for Rick to tell him the bad news. Accept it like a man, maybe? Yeah, that's what Merle would want him to do, not cry like a baby he deeply knew he actually was. No. Facing it like the man his outside told him he should be was the best choice.


	9. Alice, the skyscraper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl fears Rick's gonna give him back to Shane because of his "bad" behavior, which causes him to hide from his caregiver and be afraid of him and another spanking sessions that might come next in case he does something Rick doesn't like.  
> Rick shows Daryl how good he can be as a Daddy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alice, the skyscraper:   
>  Warning: a little bit of angst, a lot of guilt and A SUPER CUTE DARYL!

"Daryl, please go to your bedroom" Rick ordered, pointing to the stairs and giving the boy a disappointed look. Daryl pulled up his pants and quickly ran upstairs, sobbing and staring down as he moved towards his bedroom. Once he got there, he closed the door

The little boy couldn't believe what had just happened. Rick, his Daddy, the only person he thought he could trust, had hit him! And for no reason! Why didn't he believe in his words? Maybe because he wasn't his actual son and Carl and Judith were. Maybe Rick didn't love him as much as he promised. Maybe he would give him back to Shane, now that he made a mistake that wasn't actually his fault. And now everything felt so uncertain and mistakable he didn't know what to do. Should he pack up and leave, before everything got worse and Rick got sick of him and began hitting him more? Should he just disappear to never be found again? 

Daryl laid down on his bed and buried his face in the pillow, crying into it and feeling his tears wet its fabric. The baby sobbed hard and let out tiny sniffles that could break anyone's heart immediately with only hearing him once. He was so out of luck, and now he took his time to see it. It was almost palpable, his lack of love and affection, his need for someone to craddle him into their arms and show him there's another way of life, a good one, that he's been missing for so long. But there's no one there for him, or at least that's what he thinks. 

 

"Can I come in?" Daryl heard Judith's voice from the other side of the door. He wiped his pitiful tears away from his reddened face and said an almost soulless 'yes', that caused the door to be open slowly by the tiny girl. "I heard what happened. I'm sorry I wasn't there to speak for you, Daryl" She apologized, taking a look at his face. He lowered his head and stared at the blankets beneath his thin body. 

"'S 'kay" Daryl shrugged, bringing his thumb into his mouth and starting to suck it. Judith grimaced and sat down beside him. 

"It's not. Dad should've trusted you, you're little and need his protection" Judith carded her fingers through Daryl's soft hair. The boy kind of purred a little bit and relaxed. 

"Caiw is his son, 'ike you awe. Is 'kay 'f he be'ieves you an' not me" Daryl continued crying, despite being a little bit calmer than before, all thanks to Judith. She was a great big sister... Or she would be, because he wasn't her actual brother and would never feel welcomed as one. 

"No, Daryl... Dad loves all of us the same, I promise. It's his job, and you're too adorable not to be loved. My little brother..." She gently pinched his cheeks and then tweaked his nose. "You're so little!" She actually found him too cute to be true, and he was, with his curious eyes and his cute face. 

"Ow, Juwit'!" Daryl complained, wrinkling his nose. She let out a giggle and ruffled his hair a little bit. "No p'ay wif my haiw!" He pouted and Judith wished she had a camera to take him such an adorable picture. 

"Daryl, little brother... I love you" She smiled at him. Daryl looked at her and shook his head. 

"You'we 'aying" Daryl started crying again. Why did everyone had to make him believe he was loved when he wasn't? Why were they that cruel? "No one does, no' even Daddy" 

"No, no... Daddy loves you, Daryl. The fact that he had punished you doesn't mean he's not gonna love you anymore. He's punished me too, maybe not spanking me but--" 

"See? Eve'ybody 'ikes hittin' me, then" Daryl felt like crying. He was a little boy, so it would be okay if he burst into tears in front of another person, yet he didn't. Judith stared at him almost blankly, not knowing what to say to help him feel better. "I'll go talk to him, don't you worry" After saying that, she walked away and closed the door of the bedroom.

Judith, unsure about what she was going to say yet pretty aware of how important it was, went downstairs and walked towards her father, who was cleaning up the kitchen meanwhile he waited for the food to be ready. Once she was standing right in front of him, Judith spoke: 

"Dad, you need to apologize to Daryl" She said, causing Rick to sit down at the table and pat the chair next to his for her to sit down and continue with the talk. 

Rick hollowed his cheeks and looked at her before speaking. "Jude--" 

"No Dad, listen" Judith cut him off. "Carl set Daryl up for you to get mad at him. I was there when he told us we could play with Sugar because you had said so, and I played too" 

Rick closed his eyes and sighed deeply, not knowing what to say. 'Carl was never like that, so mean and jealous! How could he do that to his new sibling---? Oh, god... How could I be so stupid?! Carl is trying to get rid of Daryl by making me mad at him!', Rick thought. He turned to look at Judith once more, before running upstairs and knocking on Daryl's bedroom door. The little boy opened it quickly, then flinching as soon as he saw Rick's face. The man tried to calm him when his blue eyes filled with tears, but the boy whined and tried to spot somewhere to run. 

"No, baby... Don't be scared, I'm not gonna harm you... Anymore" Rick held his hand out for Daryl to take it, but he didn't. "I'm so sorry, little boy" Rick's eyes filled with tears as well. 

"No! I know you'we gonna sen' me back ta him a'cause I'm bad" Daryl was very ashamed. He had failed at being Rick's baby as much as he had failed at being Shane's. Maybe he was the problem, not his caregivers. Then, maybe they would be better if he wasn't there anymore. Maybe the whole world would be if he wasn't there, just bugging around. 

Rick stared at him wide-eyed and took a deep breath before starting to talk, always being patient and speaking slowly and in a very calm voice so that Daryl didn't get upset. 

"Honey, I'm never, ever gonna send you back to Shane, okay? I love you and you will always be my baby, do you understand?" Daryl nodded slowly, still not daring to look Rick in the eye. "You're not bad, sweetheart. I was just mad at myself for not being able to make both, you and Carl, comfortable here, together. I shouldn't have spanked you, Judith just told me how wrong I was and I want to apologize for that. Even if you misbehave, I promise you I won't be as strict and harsh on you. My job is to always teach you better, not to punish you and make you unhappy. I'm sorry I couldn't see it before"

Daryl nodded, still a little bit upset. Rick approached him carefully and smiled as the boy didn't try to hide or escape. Once they were just a few inches apart from each other, Rick held out his arms for Daryl to cuddle up in a warm embrace. The boy hesitated for a couple of seconds, then leaning forward a and letting Rick hug him. Soon he wasn't crying anymore and his Daddy was carding his fingers through his soft hair. 

"Do you wanna cuddle for a little while, pup?" Rick asked, kissing Daryl's temple. The little boy nodded frantically and pulled away from the sheriff to lay down onto his bed and pat the mattress for Rick to go too. "Okay, baby... Would you like to hear a story? Want me to read you something?"

"Yes, p'ease" Daryl answered, suddenly feeling eager to be read to. Now that he thought about it, he realized that he had never had someone to tell him a story before. He wondered if Rick had books for children and if those had any pictures, because he had always loved staring at those kind of pictures anywhere he saw them. He also thought that maybe Rick would let him stare at the pictures as long as he wanted to, but maybe that was asking too much. 

The sheriff got up and walked towards the wooden desk that was in the room, which had a pile of colorful books. 

"Uh..." He scratched the back of his head, grimacing. Daryl looked at him. "I forgot to put them on the shelf, so... They're here" Daryl shrugged, not really knowing why would that be a reason for his Daddy to be uncomfortable. "So... We've got a good amount of books, so which one would you like to read?" 

Daryl frowned. There were more than just one book? Wow... He thought he could only have one, just like he had at home. 

The little boy stood up and went to see if there were actually lots of books. When he saw them, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Those books had actual childish pictures, not those silly girls that never could find their clothes and always had stickers on their nipples, Daryl thought. 

"C'mon, sweetheart, I know that you'll pick an awesome book" Rick waited for the boy to pick one, but Daryl was too concentrated on staring at the pictures and trying to guess what story each one was about. After a few minutes, he decided that the one that had a girl in a blue dress and a bunny with a big clock was a story he would like to hear. He pointed his index finger to that book. "Great choice, pup! Alice in Wonderland!" They sat down, Daryl on Rick's lap and the sheriff hugging him while caressing his belly with his free hand, and the oldest man started to read. 

They were about to finish the story, when Rick decided to let Daryl read some of it. Then, he handed the book to Daryl and stared at him expectantly. The boy blinked like ten times, not actually knowing what he was supposed to do. 

"Wha', Daddy?" He spoke around his thumb, frowning. Rick smiled at him and kissed his cheek. 

"Would you like to try and read a little bit?" 

Daryl shrugged and grabbed the book, staring at the pages with big and colorful pictures, not having any idea of what those lines with letters said. But he didn't want to disappoint Rick, so he started talking whatever he thought about. 

"A'ice said that she didn't cheat when they p'ayed wif the Queen an' ate a cookie tha' made hew gwow so high a bi'd confused new wif a skyscwapew" Daryl 'read', causing Rick to laugh. The man tried to see what was actually written on the page, but the boy moved the book with his hands and pressed it against his chest. "No spyin'." Then, when he saw Daddy wasn't going to peek anymore, Daryl continued telling his version of the story. "Then she was tiny 'gain an' had ta wun fast a'cause the Queen an' the giant cawds twied to catch hew. Then, she ca'ed hew momma wif hew phone an' they went home to watch Pokémon" Daryl sighed and closed the book. "Wha' 'n amazing stowy" He said. Rick literally was about to laugh to death, because Daryl was too cute for this world and everything he said was funny. 

"Okay puppy, now let's go give you a good, relaxing bath" Rick wiped away his tears of laughter and picked Daryl up to carry him to the bathroom, which was right next to Carl and Judith's bedroom. 

Once Daryl was in the bathtub, playing with his toys in the water, Rick started scrubbing the baby's back, being as gentle as he could. That's when he took a look at his scars and realized that the only thing he wanted in life besides health for his whole family was to make Daryl happy at any cost, just to get to a day when the boy saw his scarred skin and didn't fear or even expect any judgement, when he could leave his past behind and didn't fear it could come back with any other people he met. He just wanted to make him the happiest baby in the world. 

But he remembered what he had done that same day, because of his own stupidity and also his jealous son. He had made Daryl cry, and not just that... He had expected that this punishment caused him to obey and do exactly what he's told next time. But now he knows how wrong he was, and there's nothing he can think of that can make the slight fear in Daryl's eyes disappear. 

"Pup, listen..." He said. Daryl turned his head towards him and looked him in the eye. "As an apology for what happened today, I want you to choose anything you want, okay? Anything" He smiled at the boy. 

Daryl seemed to think about it for a couple of seconds, then coming up with something. "I wanna s'eep with you tonight, in yow bed" 

Rick smiled. "Deal, pup" He kissed Daryl's cheek, then watching him smile. 

*^O^* 

Okay, this took me a while but HERE'S THE NEW CHAPTEEEEER!!! \≧﹏≦/ YAAAY! 

ⓑⓨⓔ ⓑⓨⓔ!!!


	10. Fair and Unfair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick decides that punishing Carl the same way he punished Daryl is the best thing to do, but his oldest son obviously doesn't agree. Daryl and Judith don't say anything, they think Carl deserves it, yet the baby feels bad because he knows how much Rick loves that teenager and hates to be the reason why he has to be punished.  
> Someone calls. There're bad news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! <3 Hope you're enjoying this as much as I am <3

Rick was watching Carl slightly sing a song he was listening to with his headphones, thinking of what to do to stop him from trying to hurt Daryl's feelings. He knew how cruel young people could be sometimes, and that's why he wanted to do something before everything went to hell in his family. He knew he was going to cause a disaster between himself and Lori, but she would have to understand. Besides, it wasn't like she didn't pull Judith or Carl over her lap for a spanking. She wasn't an angel either.

﹏﹏﹏

Rick had spanked Carl over his knee, just like he had done with Daryl an hour and a half ago. Judith and Daryl had watched, silent and impressed, and had to hear Carl's sobs once Rick was done with him. The little boy felt bad for his big brother, he hadn't wanted his Daddy to spank the older boy, he just wanted Rick to know that he was an obedient boy and that he wouldn't want to disappoint him. But Rick had screwed things up. Now Judith was a little bit angry and Daryl just wouldn't talk. They ran upstairs and sat down on Daryl's bed. None of them talked. They still heard Carl cry in anger. 

Then Judith dared to say something: "It's just gonna make it worse. Carl's gonna hate you more" She realized what she had just said and turned her head to Daryl, who stared at her wide-eyed with a sad expression. "No, I mean... He's just jealous, that's all" 

"Caiw is Daddy's son..." Daryl murmured, then chewing on his bottom lip. Judith sighed. 

"You are his son now, too. Dad's just trying to make us all fit in here." The girl patted Daryl's shoulder. "We will fit... Eventually" 

"Daddy has to apo'ogize to Caiw" Daryl said, causing Judith to look at him with her face full of confusion. 

"But Carl-- he set you up, he can't get his way with it" Judith spoke. Daryl shrugged. 

"Caiw was w'ong b'aming me, but he didn't dese've a spankin'" Daryl explained, and Judith couldn't help admiring him for how pure his heart was. He hadn't wanted Carl to get punished, even though the older boy had done something that had made Rick punish him. 

"Carl has learned his lesson now, and I hope that keeps him from striking again. I'm sick of his behavior" The girl rolled her eyes. Daryl nodded and shrugged. "Okay, now let's play" She leaned forward and started tickling his belly and caused him to laugh so hard he ended up wetting his diaper. He let out a whine as he heard the crinkling noise, and Judith stopped tickling him, obviously hearing it too. 

"I sowwy" Daryl pouted. Judith smiled sweetly at him and caressed his cheek. Daryl stared down at his feet, feeling the wetness of the pad against his skin. It was definitely uncomfortable. He squirmed. 

"I'm gonna go call Daddy to change you, okay? I'll be right back" Judith said, then leaving the bedroom. 

﹏﹏﹏ 

Rick was sweating. He had just spanked Carl, something he had never done before, and now the phone was ringing. It annoyed him because he recognized the number that was being shown by the screen. He doubted whether he should pick up or not, and he decided not to. Good. He didn't want any more problems, it had been enough for the day. 

And then it was ringing again, that song he loved, now turned into suffering as he sighed in defeat and picked it up, curiosity burning inside of his guts. 

His trembling hand picked the cellphone up and pressed the green button, then bringing the device close to his ear and mouth. 

"What?" He spat. 

"Hi, man" That voice said, and it didn't sound like before, as if it was that same voice he had heard in their good times. Those were their worst times, and that man's voice sounded like it came straight from hell, as if it were the devil speaking. 

"What do you want?" Anger was flowing through Rick's veins. It was anger mixed with pure venom, ready to be spat once again with an annoyed tone in his voice. 

"I need the boy, Rick--" 

"NO, THERE'S NO WAY I'LL LET YOU GET CLOSE TO DARYL" Rick spoke angrily, ready to hang up and let go of all that shit he had inside in that moment. He was about to do it, when the other man spoke again. 

"The Chief's gonna come and check on Daryl, and I need to show him he's okay so I can get promoted, man. Please. It'll just be an hour or so, and you can be there as well" Shane pleaded, his voice still sounding strange to Rick. 

"There's no way I'm gonna expose Daryl to that, Shane. I love him and I can't see him upset, and I'm sure he will be if he ever sees you again" Rick hung the phone up, cutting off whatever Walsh was going to say. He smiled at himself, proud he could finally say "NO" to that man who had been his best friend in some time that seemed so far to him, as if it had happened in another life.

He knee he wasn't gonna get rid of Shane that soon and easy, but he decided to take a while of peace and loneliness before going to warn Daryl about strange phone calls and also to tell him to NEVER answer the phone. 

That was until Judith went downstairs.  
﹏﹏﹏

Daryl was playing with Judith's toys, when he heard footsteps approaching the room, which caused him to stop playing and focus on who it might be, judging by how they walked. It was obviously Rick, and also someone with very light and small feet: Judith. They both entered the room and saw a very strange Daryl, almost a fearful one. Rick sighed deeply and walked towards him with ease. 

"Hi, little man. Are you having fun in here?" The oldest man asked as his hands landed on his baby's arms and started rubbing them soothingly. Daryl nodded in answer to his question. "What are you playing?" Rick continued asking him things to distract him from his diaper check. The sheriff's hand felt the wetness from the plastic thing and then a smile formed on his lips and he helped Daryl lay down on his back. 

"I p'aying dinosauws" Daryl said, blushing as Rick untaped his diaper and started cleaning him up. It was very embarrassing, but he was glad someone as kind and careful as his Daddy was always willing to do that for him. "Juwif said she 'ended them t'me" Rick nodded and smiled at his little girl. 

"Good job, sweetheart. I'm very proud of you" Rick said. Judith blushed and nodded. 

"Yeah... Daryl is little and he needs toys, and until he has his very own, he can have mine" She approached Daryl as soon as Rick finished changing him so that she wouldn't be invading his little brother's privacy, and then she started petting his hair and slightly pinching his reddened cheeks. "Who is the cutest boy on Earth, huh? Who is the cutest little brother there is?" Daryl stared at her with a smile on his face, still laying on the bed as Rick watched them. "You are, yeah, you are!" 

"Thanks, Juwif" Daryl stretched his arms out for her to hug him. She did, and they spent a good amount of seconds hugging tightly. 

"You two are too cute, kids" Rick kissed them both on their foreheads before heading out of the room and downstairs. 

He would tell him later. 

◇♡◇

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it was TOO short :c


	11. Revision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick doesn't agree to Shane's "deal", again. So Walsh has to do something, otherwise he won't get a promotion at work and might also get fired for not taking care of the baby.  
> The plan is evil. Rick doesn't know what to do, Daryl gets very upset and threatens to leave for good, Carl doesn't feel as happy as he would've expected, and Judith wants to flip them all off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEEEY EVERYONE! I'M BACK;)
> 
> Please read my new story: Baby Norman and Teacher Andy. Think you'll like it (? :3

Daryl woke up in Rick's bed, laying next to Judith and seeing his Daddy was beside her. He couldn't deny he felt a little bit jealous because he wanted to be cuddled too, but he couldn't complain: he would have Rick all to himself the rest of the week. That made it easier for him, to think about good things that would happen after something bad does.  
The baby just wanted to wake them up to play with them, have breakfast and then continue playing. That's all he wanted to do. But he waited patiently until Rick opened his eyes, which happened half an hour later. Rick's blue eyes fluttered open and a big smile spread on his face as he saw that his baby boy was staring at him, wide awake. The baby smiled back at him and made grabby hands for Rick to hug him. 

"I can't now, bud. Wait" Rick whispered, trying to get up without waking Judith up.

Rick made his way towards Daryl, who hugged him tightly as if he feared someone would ever try to split them up. And someone was, actually, but the little boy didn't know, and Rick would rather it stayed that way. 

"Are you hungry, pup?" Rick asked him, making him smile as he nodded. He really wanted some cookies and milk. And his bottle! Those were new and he was eager to try them out. 

 

The day before, in the afternoon, Daryl remembered Rick's promise about buying him baby stuff, and that's why he started getting dressed without even telling anyone. Once he was ready to go out, he went to the kitchen, where everyone was having a snack, and grabbed Rick's hand to lead him to the main door. 

"Daryl, wait! What are you doing?" Rick laughed as Daryl tried to drag him towards the hall. 

"We gotta buy my fings, Daddy!" The little boy spoke, eager to start walking. Rick held him still. 

"We'll go tomorrow, honey. It's late to go now, and Carl and Judith are eating cookies now. And you have to eat something too, little man" Rick lifted Daryl up and walked him to the kitchen. The little boy, angry because he really wanted new toys and other stuff, started crying and squirming. Rick bit his bottom lip and rubbed Daryl's back to try and calm him down, but nothing worked. "No tantrums, Daryl--" 

"Y-you pwomised!" Daryl sobbed. 

Carl and Judith walked into the hall and stared at them in awe, not knowing what to do. Judith really wanted to calm her little brother down, but she didn't know how. 

 

"Daddyyy!" 

Daryl continued sobbing, which convinced Rick and caused everyone to dress up and get into the car to go to the nearest store.  
Despite feeling bad for letting Daryl throw a tantrum without any consequences, Rick felt like he was doing something right by teaching his baby that when people promised something they must do as they said. That's why he drove to the store and bought a lot of toys, a few bottles and pacifiers, and also some clothes for his baby. 

 

Daryl and Rick walked to the kitchen, where they started making breakfast for everyone. The little boy was still dressed in his new pajamas, which were yellow and had green circles all over it. The long-sleeved T-shirt also had a yellow hood with green bear ears, and his pants were loose because he needed space for his diaper to fit as well. 

"Daddy" The little boy spoke while eating a chocolate chips cookie. 

"Yup, little guy?" Rick placed the green and the orange cups on the table. 

"Can I bwing my dolls hewe?" He was so eager to play with them, he couldn't even wait until he finished breakfast. 

"No, pup... Let's eat first, and then you can play" He told the little boy, despite he really wanted to watch him play, knowing how happy he'd be once he could take his new dolls out of their package. 

"Ooow" Daryl pouted, but he nodded anyways and began eating his cookies.

Rick received another call from Shane, which made him more nervous and started to worry him until he couldn't think of anything else than the man he used to call a friend. Shane had threatened to take Judith and have his blood analyzed and compared to the girl's blood, just to prove that he was her actual father. Rick was terrified: Shane, with Lori's help, could take his daughter from him.  
He was sure he would have to do as Shane said, and he would. But how much would Daryl's suffering calm his fear for losing Judith? His baby was too scared of the man to ever see his face again or hear his name without peeing himself afterwards. Rick could never do that to his little boy.

Shane was still on the phone, and Rick was trying to decide what to do, with his hand trembling as he held the device. He could hear his own heartbeat and felt it as it sped up each second that passed. 

"I want you to decide right now, and you better give me Daryl, otherwise your daughter will write Judith Walsh on all her school books" The man on the other side of the line said, causing Rick to bite his lower lip and spit his words without thinking about them. 

"Fine, you can have Daryl for the revision, but don't take Judith" Rick hated himself for giving into Shane's game, but there was nothing he could do to back off, now that he had agreed. 

"See, Rick? This was an easy decision to make. I always knew you didn't love him that much. Having him at your house was just a whim" Walsh spoke, causing Rick to close his eyes in an attempt to keep calm and avoid saying things he would regret later. He just hung up. 

How was he gonna tell Daryl that he had just bought him a one-way ticket straight to hell? The little boy was afraid of Shane, and he had just agreed to send him to the man's house for a couple of hours! He was an asshole, he didn't deserve the family he had. 

°°°°°°°°

Daryl was playing with Judith, brushing a doll's hair carefully, when Rick knocked on their door and stared at the two with a sad smile on his face. He knew he had chosen one over the other, and that hurt him almost deadly. The little boy would never forgive him for that, and neither would Judith. 

Daryl turned his head towards him and smiled, waving him to come over. "Wanna p'ay wif us, Daddy?" The baby spoke happily, which made Rick feel bad as he had to shake his head in silence. "Oh" Daryl looked down. 

"We... W-we have to go in a few minutes, baby. Let's go change your clothes" Rick picked Daryl up and the baby started squirming. 

"I wanna p'ay, I wanna p'ay! Daddyyy!" The pup whined, trying hard not to cry. Judith stood up, her sweet face turned into a frown, and followed Rick and Daryl to the changing table. 

Daryl squirmed a lot, since he didn't want to stop playing, but Rick's weary face told him that something was odd and that he had to behave. He did. 

"Where are you two going? Or are we all going?" Judith asked, still frowning, as her father changed Daryl's wet diaper and put him in a fresh one. 

Rick looked at her and shook his head. "We just have to do something quick, don't you worry. You'll stay here with Carl" He answered, causing the girl to stay quiet and to stop frowning. "Yellow or green, pup?" Rick asked, holding two onesies in front of the little boy. Daryl picked the light green one. "Okay" Rick quickly dressed his baby up and lifted him off the table, patting his padded bottom as the boy buried his reddened face into the crook of Rick's neck. "Let's go" He bent down to kiss Judith's forehead and then went downstairs to say bye to Carl and then go to Shane's house. 

"Mm!" Daryl whined, wiggling to make Rick let him go. Rick held him tighter and stared at his baby's face. 

"What's wrong, apple pie?" Daddy smiled to his sweet baby. Daryl's face reddened even more because of the nickname, and then he pointed to his crib. 

"Pacifiew" Daryl said, stretching his hand to show Rick exactly where the thing was. Daddy walked them both to pick it up and then put it into his boy's mouth. "Fanks" The pup lisped around the soothing pacifier. 

"No problem, pumpkin" Rick kissed Daryl's cheek. "Okay, now we have to go" 

°°°°°

Rick drove in silence, not wanting to wake Daryl up from his short nap as they headed to Shane's house. He hadn't told the boy yet, and that was making his heart pound bitterly strong in his chest, almost wanting to burst out of his rib cage. He felt so guilty for choosing Judith over Daryl, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He felt horrible when he realized how mean he had been and continued being to Daryl and that made him sick. He would have to make it up to him. 

They got to Shane's house. They had to leave the car and step into Hell. 

"Baby, wake up" He whispered into Daryl's ear, causing the baby to start stirring in his dream instantly. Rick wanted to cry as soon. As he saw Daryl's ocean blue eyes staring at him innocently as he woke up and smiled happily. 

"Hi Daddy" The baby smiled and then he stretched his whole body as he yawned. He looked so adorable! 

Rick knew he didn't deserve a boy like Daryl, so sweet and beautiful. He had to tell him the truth before any insecurity settled into the baby's brain as he knew where they were. He had to know why. 

"Daryl, uh... I..." He started speaking, but he stopped as soon as Daryl looked out of the window and saw the house they had stopped in front of. He felt betrayed. Rick was returning him to Shane, he didn't want him anymore and needed to get rid of him. His eyes filled with tears. "No, baby---" 

"Hi, Rick!" Shane yelled from the porch, waving them to come over. Rick picked Daryl up as quickly as he could and then he walked towards the house. Daryl cried desperately, squirming to try and run away from both men. Each step made his knees even weaker. 

Once they were right in front of each other,Rick spoke: "Shane, please-- If you harm him, I--" Rick's voice trembled. 

"Oh Rick, c'mon! You know you can't threaten me!" Shane quickly grabbed the baby and started turning away from his former friend. 

Daryl spat his pacifier to the ground. "DADDYYY!" Daryl wailed, kicking and squirming. Rick stared at his boy, all drenched in tears, and his heart broke. He hadn't felt this bad in his entire life. He was miserable, just a disgusting coward. "DADDY, P'EASE! I BE GOOD, I BE GOOOOOD!" Daryl screamed and fought Shane as he tried to enter his house. "I PWOMISE, I BE GOOD BOY!" 

As he walked towards the car, Rick's heart ached deeply. How could he do this to a little boy, HIS little boy? Daryl was his, as much as Judith and Carl were. It wasn't fair. If he fought for one he would have to fight for ALL of them. He couldn't trade Daryl to keep Judith, because he would be losing the last piece of dignity he had left. 

"DADDY!" Daryl wailed, trying to stop Shane from closing the door. 

"Shut up, little shit!" Shane yelled at the baby.

Rick stopped walking and turned towards them. He saw Daryl's eyes staring at him, burning him with a deadly glare of his, and he closed his eyes for a second. He took a deep breath, opened his eyes and started walking towards them. He saw a few neighbors started coming out of their houses because of all the yelling outside, but he didn't even stop to tell them to go back inside, as he would have if he would have felt normal. He felt angry, sad, miserable. He wasn't himself, not then. 

Shane tried to close the door as he saw Rick walking toward them, which caused Daryl to yell and Rick to run as fast as he could, soon starting to push the door so that it wouldn't close. 

"Rick, we had a deal!" Walsh screamed, kind of afraid of the other man. Daryl continues yelling, crying and kicking. 

"GIVE ME DARYL, SHANE!" Rick screamed even louder, causing Shane to shiver and Daryl to stop making any noises. He didn't know if he should feel happy or afraid. 

"If you want him alive, better go before the Chief comes here!" Shane said. Daryl sobbed and and elbowed Shane in the nose, breaking it. "Son of a bitch!" Walsh dropped Daryl, which caused the door to slam shut and then picked him up, grabbing him by his onesie, then pushing him against the wooden door and putting his hands around his neck, strangling him and making his face redden in a matter of seconds. Daryl lifted his leg and kicked him in the knee, making him weak but not causing him to let go of him. "You're gonna pay!" Shane pressed his hands even tighter around Daryl's neck.

Just by hearing all the noises the struggle was causing, Rick knew what was going on inside of the house, just some inches away. He banged on the door desperately, just hitting the edges not to punch the zone Daryl was being held against. "LET HIM GO, SHANE! THIS IS NOT HIA FAU---" 

"What the he'll is going on out here?" Someone spoke behind Rick, making him turn his head. His heart didn't know whether it should stop in a stroke or beat happily, as he saw the Chief was there with two of his men. 

Rick struggled to find the correct words. "H-he has my little boy in there, he's hurting him!" Grimes yelled. 

The other police officers pulled their guns out and pointed at the door as soon as the Chief nodded. Rick moved to let them in. 

"Officer Walsh, please let the child come out" The Chief spoke, listening carefully at what was going on inside. He heard some struggle. The door didn't open. "Mr Walsh, back away from the door" 

"NO! Daryl's in there, he could get hurt!" Rick yelled, trying to bang again on the door, but one of the officers held him to let the others work. 

"Walsh, if you don't come out---" Suddenly, the door opened and Daryl walked out of the house. The Chief scanned him with his eyes and saw how bad the baby was. Daryl was crying his face all red and his neck with purple marks all over. "Come here, son. It's alright" He hugged the baby and patted his back. "Go get Walsh" The Chief ordered the two officers, who nodded and entered the house. 

"Baby, I---" Rick ran towards him, but the Chief's stare made him stop when he was just a few steps away from them. 

"Have you been taking care of this... Man?" The grey-haired man asked, still looking at Rick. 

"Y-yes, Sir." He nodded. He looked at Daryl and guilt poisoned him. "Please, Sir... May I hold him? He needs me" Rick stared at Daryl as he cried, watching the boy stare at the ground in shock. 

"Is it okay if---?" The eldest man asked the little boy, who bit his lip and nodded. Soon he was free to go hug Rick, but he stopped a few steps away from him, hesitating whether it was worth it to trust him and give him a chance or not. He had given him away, after all. But... Other than him, his Daddy, who could take care of him? No one had ever shown any signs of love towards him, and now he felt good at Rick's house. He thought everyone deserved one more chance, but only if they we're worth it. Rick definitely was. He nodded and ran to hug his Daddy. 

Rick hugged him as tightly as he could. Then, he pulled away and cupped his face to look him in the eye and speak: "I'm really sorry for what happened, Daryl. I want you to know that, if you give me one more chance, I won't let you down. I know I don't deserve you, but you have to trust me: I love you. I love you more than anything in this world and any other that exists, just like I love Carl and Judith. I made a mistake, but I'm gonna fix it so that you and me can be happy again. I promise" He kissed Daryl's forehead. 

"Mhm" Daryl nodded. He was still in shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter I've ever written :'3 Hope you like it, and sorry for taking so long to update <3


	12. Stray baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl doesn't want to be with Rick anymore, but he knows that he actually needs him. Rick tries to fix the damage he's caused to the boy, but the baby feels so betrayed that he doesn't let them. Then, Daryl realizes that he'll never stop loving Rick, so he comes up with a plan so that Rick will never want to get rid of him anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SOO sorry for taking so long to update!!! *cries* I've been really busy these months that I barely had time to write anything, and my lack of inspiration wasn't helping. Promise I'll update as soon as I can, maybe next month (? It's not that far <3   
>  Love you guys, and I hope two things:  
>  1- That you love the chapter.   
>  2- That there aren't many mistakes in it. I'm sorry for all those words I've written wrong so far :c. 
> 
> Byeee! See you soon! <3

  After the second Judith waved goodbye from the window of the backseat of the car as it took off from Rick's house, everything had been quiet. It had been a very rough day and Daryl was tired, and still a little bit shocked, so he couldn't do anything else but laying down on the couch of the living room and closing his eyes. But as soon as his he did, flashbacks from what had happened less than an hour before invaded him and his eyes flooded with salty tears. His sobs were nearly silent, yet he knew Rick would notice since the man seemed to know him very well although they had met not so long ago. 

   Daryl sobbed harder as he felt again Shane's hands around his neck, squeezing tightly. The fear of that moment being his last one made his heart shrink, and that feeling of his stomach twisting as his memories attacked him came back. Suddenly, it was too much and his tummy felt really twisted and upset that a weird —yet familiar— sound escaped his mouth and a disgusting liquid came out of it as his whole body shook from the violent action. 

   Daryl's eyes went extremely wide as he realized that he had just thrown up, and he couldn't help the loud sobs that came out next. 

   "Daryl" Rick spoke, entering the room as quickly as he could. He felt bad for not hearing how upset the baby was until he heard him crying desperately. 

   The little boy looked up at the man and then back at the puddle of puke on the floor, afraid of what the man would say about the mess he had just done. 

   "'M sowy" Daryl bit his bottom lip, still sobbing involuntarily. 

   Rick's heart almost broke when he saw the fear in his baby's eyes. He didn't know what to say, but he tried really hard for the very few words he'd speak to be useful somehow. 

   "Don't be sorry, I'm not angry" Rick smiled sweetly at his little boy, who nodded and stared down at the floor. "Okay, pup, are you feeling better now?" Daryl nodded. "Maybe all this tension upset your tummy, right?" 

   "Mhm" Was the only thing Daryl said before standing up to leave the room. He wasn't ready to be that close to Rick, the man who had pretended to love him and, as soon as he meant too much trouble, tried to get rid of him. What was next, waiting for the baby to fall asleep so that Rick could just toss him into the trash can? He could imagine himself being thrown away from the place he had thought would be his home from now on. 

   As soon as he saw Daryl was trying to walk away from him, Rick stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. Daryl turned around and, with fear in his eyes, waited for the older man to say something. 

   Rick cleared his throat before speaking. "I want to fix the damage I've done to you, please let me help. Don't push me away. I'm still your daddy, remember?" Rick's eyes filled with tears. "Let me show you how much I love you" 

   Daryl didn't know what to do or say. He froze, thinking whether he should believe in Rick's words or not. 

"I know I hurt you and I can't excuse myself for being such a bad daddy, but I promise that I won't make this kind of mistakes anymore. I'm so sorry" Rick spoke, feeling hot tears sliding down his cheeks. Daryl felt bad for his Daddy, who had been taking care of him since they met, so he just nodded. Rick let out a sigh of relief and nodded thankfully. "Thank you so much, sweetheart" He took the baby's hand and placed a kiss on its back. Then, he looked at Daryl and said: "Now, I'm gonna give you a nice bath and then we'll play whatever you want, okay?"

   

   Daryl behaved very well during his bath, letting his Daddy wash and scrub all he wanted. He didn't feel like talking, so he just remained silent the whole twenty minutes he spent sat in the bathtub. Rick talked just to tell the baby what he would cook for dinner, and then the silence filled the room. The older man didn't want to talk, he just focused on the purple and black marks on the pup's neck, which caused his eyes to fill with tears, yet he held them back and saved them for later, when he was alone. 

  Once the bath was over, Rick gently patted Daryl dry with his blue towel and then used the warm object as a wrapping for the little guy, who had started shivering as soon as he was taken out of the warm water.  

  Rick carried Daryl to his nursery, sat him down on the changing table and put him on a diaper, then starting to look for some clothes for the baby. 

   "What do you want to wear, buddy?" Rick asked, trying to ease the tension between him and the baby. 

  Daryl shrugged. He was just concentrated on making a list of the few things he could do without the other man's help. He wished he didn't need him at all, but truth's that he loved him and he couldn't help feeling like the littlest of the babies when he was near him. Then, he just wished that the man hadn't tried to leave him alone with the devil. 

   "Mm... Let's see" Rick started digging through Daryl's drawers until he found his new brown, teddy bear suit, which was kind of a pyjama. He held it out for Daryl to see it. "I bet you wanna wear this one" 

   Daryl's eyes widened at the sight of the bear suit. He made grabby hands to Rick, which caused the man to chuckle and nod. 

  As soon as Rick finished zipping up the belly of the bear, he cooed over Daryl's cuteness. 

   "Little boy, you are such a cutie!" He tweaked the baby's nose and picked him up, patting his padded bottom. Daryl giggled and hugged the other man's neck. "Are you hungry?" He asked, causing Daryl to shrug and stare down at his hands. "Okay... I'll make us something to eat and then we'll play, okay? Do you wanna play?" 

  "Uh huh" Daryl answered, sucking his thumb. He could still feel the purple bruises on his neck, and that was a constant reminder of why he shouldn't get too comfy with the other man. 

  "Okay, then let's go to the kitchen" Rick said as they started going downstairs. He quickly sat the baby down on the kitchen floor and gave him a few toys to play with as he cooked. 

  Rick knew he was lying to himself by acting as if nothing had happened, and it made him wonder if he'd ever be what Daryl needed him to be. The baby needed someone who could take care of him, who could do literally anything to make him happy, and the sheriff knew that. He knew that he might never be the kind of man that Daryl needed. 

  

   Daryl continued playing until Rick told him to pick everything up and carried him to his chair. The man quickly set a plastic plate with some mashed potatoes and chicken, which he had cut into small pieces so Daryl could just eat them by using the fork. The little boy barely ate, not able to stop thinking about what had happened. His throat felt as if there was something around it, pressing hard on it until it hurt. 

  Rick remained silent until he noticed that the baby had started staring at his plate, which was still full of food, and that was when he dared to say something. He needed to be loved by Daryl again, he needed to get another chance. 

  "Love, do you need to cuddle for a little bit? Are you feeling anxious again?" He asked, knowing how uncomfortable Daryl could get when he was sad, worried or embarrassed. 

  Daryl thought about it. He did need cuddles, because he felt lonely, cold and a bit under the weather. He was still kind of afraid of Rick, but he knew that the man was mostly good, so he had to give him a chance. So he nodded, causing Rick to pick him up immediately and carry him to the couch in the living room. Then, they sat there together and the sheriff turned the TV on and switched the channel to Discovery Kids, where Hi5 was on. Daryl clapped his hands and hugged his legs to his chest, watching the scenes. Rick smiled and rubbed the boy's back as he smiled. 

   "Hey, isn't thay your favorite song?" He asked the baby. Daryl shook his head. 

   "Nu-uh, my fav'wite one's the wobots one" The boy answered, smiling as he listened to the girl who was talking to the puppet in the box. "I wike dat one, too" He said, as he saw that the fair-haired guy entered a scene in which the other boy was talking to the blonde girl. 

  "Oh, you like him?" Rick teased, hugging Daryl by his waist. The boy blushed as he nodded. Rick smirked. "Oh, yeah... I bet he's pretty" 

  Daryl nodded. "He's pwetty and funny" 

  Rick nodded and focused on the talk the two brown-haired girls were having. Suddenly, Daryl tugged on his T-shirt, making him turn his head towards him. 

  "What is it, pup?" Rick smiled. 

  Daryl remained silent, now afraid to say what he needed the other man to know. Rick insisted:

  "Tell me, sweetheart" 

  Daryl bit his bottom lip before he spoke: 

  "Don' get mad, but... Can I hug you, Daddy?" He asked, and then, as soon as Rick nodded and hugged him too, he added: "Sowwy I is needin' cuddwes, I know you---" 

  "Don't be sorry, honey. I love it when you hug me and we cuddle, it makes me really happy" He laid down on the couch and helped Daryl lay down next to him so that he could hug and hold him. 

  Daryl knew that it was wrong because the man could not be trusted anymore, but he couldn't help needing him. It made his heart sink when he thought of being away from Rick, so he had to do something for the man to always love him and want him around. Maybe if he drew him pictures everyday? No, he thought. He was not that good. Or... Maybe if he helped Rick clean the house and cook? No, he didn't know how to do those things. He thought he was useless, as Merle, his dad and Shane had always said. He didn't know how to do anything. But... He knew how to behave, right? He was a good boy, or that's what Rick had said sometimes. Maybe if he behaved and was a very, very good boy, then Rick would never let him go. Yes, he had to try that. 

  Rick turned his head to look at Daryl, because the baby was being so quiet that he thought he had fallen asleep. But Daryl's eyes were almost wide open, and he was staring at the TV, now watching The Backyardigans. As he felt Rick's eyes on him, Daryl turned to look at the other man. 

  "Hey you" The sheriff said with a smile. Daryl blushed. "Are you hungry, little one?" 

  Daryl opened his eyes really wide and nodded. Rick smiled and kissed the boy's cheek. 

  "I'll go heat your food up, then. Wait here, honey" He said, and Daryl nodded. 

 


End file.
